


Guiltless

by Sasspiria



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anal Sex, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood Kink, Blood and Violence, Bottom Rhys (Borderlands), Brutal Murder, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Dark Rhys, Domestic Fluff, Forced Prostitution, Frottage, Gentle Handsome Jack, Hero Complex, Hero Worship, Human Trafficking, Hurt Rhys, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Insecure Rhys, Jack Feels, Jack Spoils Rhys, Jack being Jack, Kidnapping, M/M, Murder Husbands, Murder Kink, Oral Sex, Rape Recovery, Rewrite, Scared Rhys (Borderlands), Shy Rhys (Borderlands), Sugar Daddy, Tenderness, Torture, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, When it comes to rhys at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:48:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21791068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasspiria/pseuds/Sasspiria
Summary: In which, Jack is a transient serial killer who believes himself to be a hero. While he's on the road he runs into his emotionally damaged and fragile soul mate, Rhys. Jack is surprised that someone like him would have a soul mate, even someone trapped in such a shady situation as Rhys is. Rhys is surprised that anyone could be so kind to him, but especially a man like Jack.(AKA a total strip the bones rewrite of my old fic Kismet)
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Rhys (Borderlands)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *Shows up after six months with starbucks* hey whats up i brought some messy hurt comfort fic
> 
> This got so fucking long i swear to god it was only supposed to be 3k words.

For nearly all of his life, Rhys had been made to suffer. He couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t spending his nights, crying himself to sleep and chewing on Xanax just to get through the day. He was nearly twenty now and at this point he was convinced that there had never been a time where this wasn’t “normal” for him. It had been so long since he had had a life that could even be considered somewhat ordinary.

When he was six years old, his mother had taken him to a dilapidated house in a neighborhood that he had never been before and told him that he would be living here from then out. He didn’t understand why, and she never explained why. She just screamed in his face like she always did – told him that he was terrible and stupid and too much trouble.

He hadn’t known how to not be too much trouble, she had never told him how. Then there was a group of men, big and intimidating looking men that gave him, even at an age where he was so young and naive, a terrible feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. His mother had urged him towards them, promising Rhys that they would take care of him from now on.

He couldn’t bring himself to believe her. Before they could pull him all the way into the house, he had broken away from the men and tried to run back towards his mother. Rhys had screamed and screamed for her, begged her to come back, offered to do anything – he would be the best son ever, he would never cry or complain or ask for anything, if she would only turn around and take him back home. She never did. She didn’t look at him as the men pulled him back, throwing him on the ground, hard enough that he was left disoriented, with spotty vision and bruising all over his face.

Once he was in their care, Rhys had been put to work nearly immediately. Some of it wasn’t so bad; cooking and cleaning, simple stuff. Then there was the other work, work that involved him going into a dark room and having his clothing torn from him, having pictures taken of him, being hurt in ways that he had been too young to understand just how wrong it was.

As he grew older, he had been moved from place to place, being forced to kneel on dirty floors and lay on his back or stomach as countless men did whatever they wanted with him every single day. He never got used to how degraded he felt by all of the things that he was made to do.

Every morning, when he woke up – when the bleariness of sleep and the euphoria of his dreams had him confused, he would be convinced that the life he had in his dreams was the real one. It only made it all that much more miserable when he realized which world was the dream and which was reality.

He sat up in the motel bed and let himself come to terms with the reality of his situation. Who he was and what he was. He tried not to lurch and curl up in despair and he had to put forth an incredible amount of effort to pull himself to his feet, mentally preparing himself to get ready for another day.

Once he was in the shower, with the water running loud enough to blot out any sounds he made, Rhys let out a muffled sound of frustration and rested his forehead against the aluminum tiled wall and let himself cry – ugly, reeling sobs tore from his throat in a primal sort of way. He had learned a long time ago, that he would need to let his emotions out at the right time or he would be punished.

 _No one liked a cry baby._ He had been told that time and time again, had that message beat into him until he finally understood.

He washed himself in between each sudden out pour of emotion as he prepared himself for the day. Once he decided that he looked the part and he was dressed and pretty enough, he walked out into the hall. Usually someone would be there at the front, with a card for him filled out with his daily clients and information. It was all very professional, he thought with some humor.

As soon as he walked down into the hall, he was stopped by – of all the people – Hugo Vasquez. Ever since he had known Vasquez, the man had had it out for him. Rhys had no idea why. Maybe it was because he had denied his advances, but he could never really be sure.

The first words out of Rhys’ mouth were, “Where’s Henderson?” And he had regretted them almost immediately. Vasquez curled his lips in distaste, looking down at Rhys like he was something disgusting and diseased. Strangely, it mirrored how Rhys felt about himself.

“Hello to you too, Rhys.” Vasquez replied smugly, “Henderson’s gone.” And Rhys opened his mouth, nearly asked what Vasquez did to him – he did something terrible, Rhys just knew it – but he managed to stop himself, just barely. Vasquez smiled at him, “You’re gonna be answering to me now.” He explained, voice easy and smooth.

“Okay…”

“No card tonight.” Vasquez explained, putting a hand up to Rhys from speaking. “I’ve booked you with a group of businessmen. Maliwan guys. They want to spend the weekend with you. And they’ve paid extra to film you. So you’re free until they come for you.”

Rhys shook his head just a little, “I don’t think I should be doing something like that.” He had no idea why he kept on speaking out, but he didn’t stop himself. He wasn’t really sure if he even could. “That sounds-” He was about to say, “Dangerous” but he didn’t get to finish his sentence because Vasquez grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the wall. Rhys cried out in pain as his head hit the wall, his vision spotted a bit and he became disoriented.

“Just do what I say Rhys.” Vasquez sneered down at him as he cowered against the banister. His demeanor softened a bit, like he didn’t want to come off as the bad guy here. “I’ll come back for you in a few hours. Think of it as a half-day.” Rhys felt sick at the implication. Having to whore himself out to multiple men in one night was one thing, but having to be filmed while he did them all felt even worse.

He didn’t say anything more to Vasquez, though, he kept his mouth tight shut because he didn’t want to be hit again. Vasquez walked off, leaving him be finally. Rhys sighed, knowing he was sure to be bruised. He walked back in to his room and looked around for some makeup to cover them up suitably.

No one would want to spend any time with him if he looked like he had already been roughed up. It took ten minutes of smearing and smearing foundation and cover up all over his face and down his neck until he was satisfied that he didn’t look like garbage.

Rhys walked out and decided to go into the motels restaurant and bar. He needed a stiff drink, or seven, and something hearty to eat. He figured that he probably wouldn’t be able to eat the entire time that he was with those businessmen that were gonna gang bang him, so he might as well eat while he could.

There wasn’t anyone in the restaurant, not even the usual bartender. The only one there was a man that he had never seen before. The man looked out of place. That was the first thing that Rhys had noticed about him, that he looked like he should be literally anywhere else but in the restaurant of this shoddy little motel. But here he was, in the flesh. He was tall and athletic looking, well dressed, with well coiffed brown hair and lightly tanned skin. As soon as the two of them locked eyes, Rhys felt like it was all over for him. His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach, a fluttery feeling came over him that had him feeling weak and dizzy.

He ushered Rhys over with a wave of his hand and Rhys barely noticed that he was walking over to him without a word of complaint until he was right near the bar. “Hi.” Rhys said awkwardly, waving his hand lazily in greeting. “I guess the bar’s closed.” He grumbled. That was a shame. He was hungry.

The other man just grinned at him with a starry expression on his face, like he thought that Rhys was being cute. Like he thought that Rhys was cute in general. He didn’t know how he should feel about that. “Sit down.” He ordered and Rhys quickly obeyed, “What’s your name, kitten?” He asked and, before he could speak, decided to give Rhys his own. “I’m Jack.” He said, offering Rhys his hand.

“Rhys.” He replied, never looking him in the eye. He shook Jack’s hand, hoping that it came off as polite instead of awkward as he felt. He felt something like a spark when they touched. It was pleasant and a little thrilling. He never got attention like this. He got a lot of sexual attention. He got more than enough of that, but he was never flirted with, never looked at like he was beautiful and special.

He kept his hand on the other man’s, not wanting to stop the innocent contact they were having with each other. But he didn’t notice his skin being marked. Jack was the first to notice it.

He let out a soft, nearly breathless laugh as he saw it. The mark began to warp and wrap around Rhys’ wrist, and his own – tying them together with a red string etched across both of their skins. Jack never believed that he would have a soulmate. He had a lot of reasons to believe that he wasn’t the type and honestly, he hadn’t ever seen the appeal before. In his mind, he had a higher purpose.

But looking at Rhys now, with his pleading and expressive eyes, with his pretty face, with his slim frame and those long legs – Well, he could definitely see the appeal now. Jack let out a low whistle, “Well, would you look at that…” He purred in a low, dulcet tone.

Rhys looked at Jack with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. He wasn’t sure what to make of him. The whole time that he’d been in here, he had been pea-cocking his way around the space they were in, the energy about him big and bombastic. Usually that sort of attitude set Rhys on edge, because he’d come to realize in his years trapped on this strip of concrete and pavement that people like that were likely to be erratic and unpredictable, especially in the bedroom. Sometimes, they were nice decent people but other times… it didn’t end well for him.

For some reason, he didn’t mind that sort of attitude with Jack though. It suited him, came across as charming, charismatic and lovely. Rhys supposed that it didn’t hurt that Jack was nice to look at. Handsome. He didn’t realize why he was so at ease though, until he looked down at the mans finger, drumming gently against his bare thigh, that he understood it. Jack was… he was – Rhys opened his mouth to speak, but found himself at a complete and utter loss for words. He would have never thought that someone like him would be permitted that sort of happiness. “You- you’re my…” He stuttered.

Jack’s smile grew into a grin, “It’s okay baby,” He soothed, taking one of Rhys’ hands in his own. The action was more intimate than anything that had ever been done to Rhys in his life. There was more tenderness and affection in that one simple touch than anything that he could ever remember his parents or anyone touching him. He still didn’t understand it. “Take your time.”

“Soulmate? Soulmate…” He blurted out, voice still quiet and broken. He sounded less like someone who had the innocent ripped from him and more like a church mouse. He was surprised, even with their proximity, that Jack had been able to hear him. “You’re my soulmate.” He repeated, firmer this time. “I didn’t think that something like that was possible for me.” But those last words were spoken with a deathly quiet to them. He was surprised to find out that Jack heard him, loud and clear.

“You?” Jack exclaimed, looking bemusedly over Rhys like he was inspecting him for any sort of defects or reasons why he wouldn’t be entitled to a happy life with a soulmate. “Why wouldn’t you have a soulmate?” He asked, genuinely curious about why he would think such a thing about himself.

Rhys went quiet for a moment, trying to find the way to explain himself. It was much easier having a conversation when he pretended to be someone else, when he was himself he just floundered. “I’m too dirty.” He finally explained, after a few moments of looking at his hands, a hopeless expression on his face. He thought that he was filthy and disgusting, rotting from the inside out – like his soul had been corrupted by everything that he’d been made to do. Everything that he had done. He hated himself.

Jack made a chiding noise, putting Rhys’ face in his hands and pulling him towards him. He stroked over Rhys’ cheekbones and let his fingers trail down the line of his long neck, until they were tracing absentmindedly over his collarbones. Rhys felt heat rising to his cheeks, giddy at the attention in a way that he never had been before. “Aw, kitten, you could never be too dirty for me.” He teased.

Rhys was about to say something back to that, but he quickly noticed that the middle aged woman at the front desk. Her name was Emily Goode and she was a long faced, unpleasant person that he had more than a few run ins with – was giving him and Jack a pointed look that said, “Get him to take you to a room and make us some money or send him away already.”

She was nearly as bad as Vasquez with how much she hated him for the crime of existing too loudly. At least she never got physical with him, which couldn’t be said for Vasquez. Rhys just hoped that she hadn’t heard any of his and Jack’s conversation. Things could only end badly for them, if she had. People would be called, and Jack could be hurt. He would be… removed. Taken to a new motel. Or killed. Probably both.

So, Rhys needed to rectify this quickly and he did his best. “Hey,” He said, in a voice that he hoped came across as sultry and secretive. Jack was moved to full attention, interested in whatever his soulmate might have to say. “Why don’t we take this somewhere… private? I have a room.” He urged, with pleading eyes that he hoped conveyed the desperation that he was feeling.

Luckily, Jack was smart enough that he noticed the change in Rhys’ tone and got the message right quick. Rhys grabbed the older mans’ hand and led him up some stairs and down a few hallways, until they were in his room.

Rhys kept his hold on Jack’s hand, a firm grip that belied how much his palms were sweating and his fingers were trembling against Jacks’ own, until they were sitting on the crisply pressed sheets of one of the motels beds. “They’re keeping me here, the uh, people who run this motel I guess?” Rhys said, doing his best to keep his voice low as he spoke, “I’m not- this isn’t- I was supposed to-” He sighed, not wanting to say it out loud. It was stupid, he thought, but the shame kept him tongue tied. “They make me work here. In the bedrooms. On my back, or on my knees.”

He was sure that Jack understood what he meant. The hints were clear enough. Rhys kept on going, he had never been permitted to speak so long without interruption. “I want to leave with you though, wherever you’re going I want to go too, if it’s possible.” Rhys said, looking at him with something like hope in his eyes. “I’m sorry it’s like this, I wish it wasn’t. But I don’t know what I can do about any of it.”

He tried not to cry, tried with all his might – because he barely knew Jack, whether they were soulmates or not and he didn’t know how he might react if Rhys just burst into tears like he wanted to – but it got harder and harder with every second that he sat there next to his soul mate, so close to freedom yet still trapped and rooted like he had always been.

There was something dangerous in Jack’s eyes, “They’re keeping you here, huh?” He muttered, less speaking to Rhys than he was to himself. “Okay…” He said, “I’ll take care of it, don’t you worry you’re pretty little head Pumpkin, I’ll have ya out of here by tonight.” His tone was somewhere in the middle between gentle and deadly. Then he grinned, all perfect teeth and intentions that couldn’t be good. “Matter of fact, I’m sure that I can get you out of here by the end of the hour.”

Rhys wanted that so badly, Jack had no idea how much he wanted that, but soulmate or no, he couldn’t expect Jack to put himself into danger on his behalf. They barely knew each other. “What are you going to do?” He asked, suddenly afraid for Jack. “Jack, these people, they’re dangerous. You don’t know what will happen.” He said. Secretly, Rhys didn’t believe that he was worth the trouble that Jack was going to for him – he was worthless and Jack would be better off forgetting about him entirely. He was just about to open his mouth and say that when his soulmate began to speak.

“ _Aw_ , Rhysie, are you worried about me?” Jack replied, grinning like a kid in a candy shop. “That’s cute. Real cute, but- uh, me, I can take care of myself.” He scoffed, like the idea that he wouldn’t be able to handle any situation was just ridiculous to him, “I mean, come on, look at me.”

“Jack, I’m serious!” Rhys snapped back, aghast. He didn’t know what he could say to make Jack understand – preferably without humiliating himself. “They took me when I was a child, I’ve seen what they can do.” Some of it, he thought, but what little he was enough to scare him into submission.

“So. Am. I.” There was something hard in Jack’s gaze, but it was quickly masked with tenderness. “I’ll take care of it.” Jack promised again, speaking in a low and soothing tone of voice. Rhys almost believed him. He pulled Rhys in for a quick and gentle kiss before he got up, “Stay here.” He ordered in a tone of voice that brook no arguments from the younger man. “I won’t be gone long.” And then he was out the door, leaving Rhys with a lot more questions than answers.

* * *

Jack walked out of the room and took a breath, preparing himself for the inevitable. It hadn’t been too long since his last kill. A few weeks. But he was always in the mood for a kill – so long as his victims deserved it, because then they weren’t really victims. They would be villains and it was a heroes job to get rid of them. And Jack Lawrence was nothing, if not a hero.

From what little that Rhys had told him before he’d left, these people were definitely villains. They deserved whatever they got coming to them, whatever Jack was willing to dish out as punishment for their crimes. They had hurt so many people, caused so much pain and ruined the lives of so many children. And, if all that wasn’t bad enough on its face, they had the audacity to hurt his soulmate. His. Nobody could just hurt what was his and get away with it. No. These people needed to suffer.

Jack went back into his car and took out some tools; a bowie knife, a nail gun and a pistol, loaded with ammo and modified with a silencer and last but not least, his clean-up supplies. He looked around the parking lot, the place was desolate with only a few cars in sight that night. That was a good thing. It meant that there wouldn’t be any chance at witnesses. He walked back into the motel with a pep in his step.

He looked around the front room and smiled as he realized it was just him and the woman who manned the front desk. She was complicit in whatever they were doing here, he thought, the look that she gave Rhys told him so. Still, she put on a nice display of ignorance and pretended to be friendly.

She smiled at him, grinning with at teeth. He noticed a bit of lipstick on one of them. “Are you having a good time, sir?” She asked, “Is there anything you need?” Jack chuckled to himself, amused by the misplaced display of kindness from her. Then an amusing thought crossed his mind.

She was trying to flirt. It was funny, pathetic, but funny. And it worked for his purposes. Jack took purposeful steps as he walked closer to her, close enough that she was nearly pressed right up against his chest. She didn’t try to push him away and it made him grin. Too easy. “Actually,” He said, wrapping one arm around her. “You know what? There is something you can do for me.”

“O-oh?” She replied, utterly charmed. “What’s that, then?”

He pulled the knife out from his back pocket, still she didn’t notice it. “You can die.” He said, in a nonchalant sort of way – the same tone that someone might use to speak about the weather.

All that she got out was, “What-” before he impaled the back of her neck with the bowie knife, twisting it inside of her. She collapsed against him and he held her tight while she weakly struggled. There was no use to it. She was gonna choke on her own blood in a matter of seconds. He doubted that it was even a conscious decision that she was making.

“ _Thaaaaaaaat’s_ it.” He cooed to her as she gurgled and cried out in pain. Blood poured from her mouth. He grimaced at that, he would have to do a lot of cleaning once this was over. Hopefully, he could get his Rhys out of the motel before he saw all of the bloodshed. “Go easy, pumpkin. Don’t make this harder on yourself than it has to be.”

And then she was gone. He dropped her like she was a piece of trash, used a long, thick coat that was hanging on the wall behind her – it was probably hers, he realized with a bit of humor – to cover her up, but not before he took the managers keys out of her pockets. He’d need those for later.

He looked through the books at the table, until he found an “Employee’s Roster” hidden underneath a lot of documents. There weren’t many people employed at the motel. There was this Emily Goode woman – but he had already taken care of her. Then there was Hugo Vasquez and Saul Henderson.

Then he decided to go through to the back rooms – there had to be some enforcer there – and sure enough, there was a man there, a tall and stocky looking man. Hugo Vasquez, he realized quickly. Vasquez spoke with an incredibly deep voice. “Sir, are you lost?” He asked, “This is… it’s an employees only area.”

He was obviously trying to be polite, but it looked like that facade was wearing down by the second. He was scared. Angry too. But the fear was more potent, he could practically smell it on the man. Jack tried not to crack a smile, or say something that would give the game away. “You work here?” He asked, even though he knew the answer. Jack put his hands in his pockets, both so he could dig out the nail gun and to make himself appear meek and unassuming. And as soon as the man gave a slight nod he pulled the nail gun out and shot him in the forehead. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Then he set to work on taking care of the bodies. He dragged the two of them into a bathroom. He kept his clean-up supplies in a satchel. It was all very standard fair.

Jack wiped the sweat from his brow, then he looked up and noticed Rhys… standing there with a frightened expression marring his pretty face. That couldn’t be good. He expected him to scream or start running, maybe even for him to shout at him and call him a monster.

But instead of any of the expected reactions, Rhys just watched him work on the bodies, making them tiny and disposable. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips, but other than that his aura was incredibly muted and he was completely motionless and wordless. Jack found that incredibly interesting, but he didn’t have the time just then to ask him questions about it. He would later, he promised himself, he needed to know just what his soulmate was all about.

Rhys watched with a placid expression as he watched the bloodbath in front of him, he knew in an objective sense that it was horrifying but he couldn’t bring himself to be horrified by the sight of some of the people that had abused and manipulated him for years finally gone. No, it felt… freeing and that was what really had him feeling horrified. What kind of person was he, what kind of monster was he, if he felt so damn relieved at the sight of such gore and destruction?

Jack moved so casually, it was damn near graceful. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out that he was enjoying himself. He didn’t acknowledge Rhys’ existence for a few minutes as he worked, but it was obvious to Rhys that Jack knew he was there. It wasn’t until both Vasquez and Emily were hacked up into tiny bits and stuffed into bags that Jack locked eyes with Rhys again.

Jack looked at Rhys with an indescribable expression, “Rhys.” He said, his voice coming out as barely more than a breath. As he got up, moving to walk towards him, but stopped as he noticed his soulmate backing up a few steps. Rhys didn’t run though, he didn’t even leave the room, he just kept his distance from the older man. A few steps between them, to ensure that he had some control here.

“Is it over?” Rhys asked, having a distant thought that he might be in shock. He could barely formulate a coherent thought in his head, let alone putting all his disjointed feelings into words. “Are you- are they all gone?” He asked, looking at Jack with wide, questioning eyes. “They’re all…they’re dead?”

“Almost.” Jack replied, “There’s one more. Henderson. You know him?”

Rhys nodded minutely. “Henderson’s dead.” He blurted out, “Vasquez killed him… I don’t know why.” Probably to get a leg up in this trafficking business. He’d always been disgustingly opportunistic, even for a man in this sort of business. He crossed his arms over his chest and closed in on himself.

“Are you scared?” Jack asked. ‘Of me.’ was left unsaid, but they could both feel it hanging in the air heavy and tense. He would understand, even if he hated it, if Rhys wanted nothing more than to be away from him. He thought that what he was doing was right – he was taking out the bad guys, being a hero without so much as a thank you – but he knew that no one else would see it that way.

That was something that he was willing to accept. That he would never get the recognition and praise that he deserved, for getting rid of all of the criminals and monsters that he could get his hands on. Still, that didn’t mean that he had to like it.

Rhys nodded minutely, “A little.” he admitted, he let out a shaky sigh. “N-no matter how scared I am right now, it’s nothing compared to how much I was afraid being…” his face screwed up into a disgusted, pained expression. “In this fucking place.” He gestured vaguely around the space.

Jack walked towards Rhys purposefully, until they were so close that they were nearly touching hip to hip. Rhys practically stumbled into the older mans’ chest and Jack ran his fingers through his hair, soothing down the auburn locks with love and adoration in his touch. “What did they do to you?”

Rhys didn’t answer, he just pressed tighter against Jack and took comfort in his chest. He didn’t want to talk about that – not right now. No, he couldn’t do this right now. He decided to change the subject to something more comfortable. “Do you do this a lot?” He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t need to.

“Define a lot.” Jack countered, with a smile as he took a baby step towards Rhys. He didn’t want to scare the younger man any more than he already had. He wanted Rhys to feel safe with him always, even now, as crazy as that might be.

Rhys let out a quiet huff, “Okay…” He replied suspiciously, his morbid curiosity taking over for him in moments. “Why do you do it, then?” He asked.

“There’s so much scum out there.” Jack explained in a wistful sort of way. “Bandits, rapists, people who hurt people. Someone’s gotta take care of ‘em, right? That’s where I come in.” The way that Jack framed it made him come off as some kind of hero. Despite knowing that it was wrong, that what he had just done was wrong, Rhys couldn’t help but be drawn in by his words.

Rhys didn’t say anything for a moment, too floored to speak. “I guess that makes sense.” He admitted. Then a strange thought crossed his mind,“Did you know about what they’re doing here? Before I told you about what they’ve done to me?” He asked, wondering if he had been coming for them the whole time.

Jack laughed at that, “Ah, cupcake, you are overestimatin’ me.” He replied, his tone good humored and pleasant. “Not that I don’t love it! it’s cute. But, uh, no, I was just-” He kept laughing, but it petered down a bit until it was quieter. “I’m on the road a lot. I end up in places like this a lot. Usually, it’s a lot more boring than this.”

“Sorry.” Rhys mumbled so quietly that Jack could barely hear him. He looked down at the ground, in shame. He felt like he had done something terribly wrong – just by existing and inconveniencing everyone with his dirtiness. His wrongness.

Jack couldn’t understand what he meant. “What do you have to be sorry for?” He asked. Rhys didn’t reply, he just trembled in his arms. He felt rage deep in his bones, at what had been done to his soulmate. They would get what was coming to them. But for now, they needed to get out of here and onto the road. “Come on,” He said, finally, with a gentle smile on his face. “Let’s get out of here. You’re too good for this place, Rhysie. You always were.” Rhys shook his head. There was no way that he’d believe that if he knew him better, he thought.

“Wait… I need to do something first.” Rhys explained. “Give me, like, five minutes.” He added quickly, before he was running down the hall. There were others here, but they wouldn’t be able to here everything that went on – the walls were soundproofed, when they were in those rooms they couldn’t hear a thing that was going on outside their doors.

Rhys walked into each and every one of the rooms that he knew were filled with the girls and boys he had worked with for years – he told each and every one of them, personally that they were free to go now, but they had to leave before anyone more important than Vasquez came to check on them. He knew that none of them would miss the chance to ransack the place and run as soon as possible.

Then they were on their way out. The next thing that Rhys knew, he was laying on a bed in an incredibly luxurious caravan as Jack drove him away from everything that he ever knew. He fell asleep faster than he ever had before. For the first time in his life, Rhys slept well without the aid of anything but the feeling of strong arms wrapped around his waist. For the first time in his life, he felt well and truly safe. For the first time in his life, he felt loved and protected.

There had been _a lot_ of firsts that day. There were bound to be a lot more for them, in their future.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Jack's backstory, Jack and Rhys get to know each other on their way to Sanctuary
> 
> Angel isn't here yet, but she'll show up later DW :)

The first time that Jack had killed someone, it was more or less an accident. He had been fifteen at the time and living in the glorified hell house that he and his twin brother had grown up in. Their grandmother’s house. Granny Lawrence was a hard woman to please.

She ruled their house with an iron fist and had no issue letting both Jack and Tim know that they were unwanted castaways that she had been forced to deal with. “It’s out of the kindness of my heart that I don’t throw you worthless boys out.” She would say to them often. “It’s because I’m a good christian that I didn’t drop the two of you off a bridge when your worthless mother left you on my doorstep.” She would say, nearly as often.

Jack was pretty sure that there was no god, but if even if a god did exist, she sure as hell wasn’t getting into heaven. He had returned home late in the day that it had happened, he’d been hanging around the outskirts of town – up to no good of course. They lived in a rural town, so, really the only sort of fun that a teenager could get up to was in the middle of the woods or at the bottom of a bottle. He didn’t bring Timothy along, because, really that wasn’t the sort of thing that he liked to do. Timothy didn’t like partying and Jack’s friends made him nervous. He usually preferred to keep to himself, for the most part, writing novels and acting in plays at their school. They might have looked identical but they weren’t the same – Timothy didn’t act like Jack in all the ways that counted. He was a nice and gentle sort of person – he was creative, sensitive and he didn’t go around breaking rules.

Jack thought that, maybe if he had dragged him along, none of this would have ever happened.

When he walked into the house, he could feel that something was off. There was a tension in the air that he couldn’t quite put a finger on, but instinctively he felt bothered by it. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, he knew that something was wrong.

He walked through the threshold of the house and the feeling just got more intense with each and every step that he took forward into the house. Once he was in the living room, he saw exactly what was wrong. Timothy was on his knees, clutching his cheek in pain, their grandmother was behind him holding the rusty and dull buzz saw that she liked to beat them with.

Jack winced when he saw it, briefly remembering the many times that he had been beaten with it before and all of the scars that it left him with, before he felt a deep seated rage at the idea of her hitting Timothy. Hitting Jack was one thing, he could take it and he was used to failing to meet her high expectations. He was used to being punished, even if it was rarely ever fair. And he could handle the pain, he was strong enough to take it – he had always been the stronger one, out of the two of them. He had always been the one that took the blame when either of them did something wrong,

Jack ran up behind her, nearly blind with rage. “Get off of him!” He snapped, running towards her with a speed and determination that he had had no idea he even possessed. He grabbed her by the hair and she let out an inhuman sounding shriek. He dragged her for a bit and threw her into the wall, slammed her head against it once, twice, three times before he finally let her go, his anger quelled.  
She crumpled into a heap on the floor, blood pooling under hear head. Jack was in such a weird, fuzzy head space that at first, he didn’t realize that she was dead. That he had killed her. The only thought that had been in his mind was that he had to protect his brother – no one else would, especially not Tim.

But Timothy knew what had happened. He had seen it, nearly as soon as she hit the ground. He was frozen with shock and horror, he couldn’t believe that Jack could do something like that, even to someone as horrid as their grandmother. He covered his mouth tightly with his fist in a pathetic attempt to stop himself from vomiting at the sights and smell in front of him. He couldn’t speak in full sentences, couldn’t think clearly, couldn’t do much else but panic.

Jack walked over to him and though he knew that, physically, there was no blood on his hands Timothy could have sworn that he could smell it on his brother the coppery scent in the air sickening to him. Jack put his hands on his shoulders and looked at him with a concerned expression fixed on his face,“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, looking at Timothy strangely, like he couldn’t comprehend the horror in his twins eyes.

Timothy opened his mouth and closed it again,“You killed her.” He blurted out, after a few moments of stunned silence, his tone blank and empty. He thought that he might be going into shock. “Y-you…you fucking…she’s dead.” He repeated the sentiment.

The realization didn’t click for him immediately, that she was dead. He looked over at her corpse and felt next to nothing about it, all the same. In his mind, she was a monster. She was the monster, the devil that had been peeking over their shoulder all their lives, filling them with terror and beating them half to death over small mistakes. Jack thought that she got she was deserved, but he didn’t dare say that Timothy, who was all nervous tension and shaky hesitance already. He didn’t want to shake him up anymore and he tried to sooth Tim. “Hey, hey, hey…” He murmured, soothing his thumbs over Timothy’s cheeks in a gentle – nearly paternalistic fashion. “It’s okay… It’s okay, she won’t be able to hurt us anymore.” He hoped that that would have been enough. It wasn’t.

Timothy looked at Jack like he had spouted a second head. “Okay? No. No! This isn’t okay. None of this is okay!” He said, aghast. Then, overwhelmed by everything that had happened he broke out into terrified and ugly sobs. “Jack! You killed her! You… you- why would you…?” He babbled incoherently and wrung his hands until they were sore and raw, to get all the anxiety that he was feeling out. It wasn’t every effective.

Jack didn’t understand why Timothy cared so much. She was evil. She was cruel. She hated them and she would have killed them if she had the chance, through beatings or neglect. “Tim, you don’t… she was going to hurt you.” He said, nonplussed. He walked over to her corpse and picked up the buzz-saw that she usually used to beat him with. He had to pry it from her cold, practically necrotic hands. “With this.” He exclaimed, as if Timothy had no idea and it was damning evidence of her guilt.

Timothy still didn’t look convinced that there was nothing else that Jack could have done to help him, but he didn’t say as much. He didn’t want to argue and not just because of his fear. “Okay…” He said, speaking in a suspicious tone of voice. “What are we going to do now?”

“ _I’unno_. We have to get rid of her I guess.” Jack said, with a shrug and laid back casualty in his tone of voice. This time, Timothy didn’t argue because he had little choice but to help Jack, if he didn’t want to go to jail too. They dug a hole 12 feet deep, so deep in the ground that no one would ever find her for years, they had had to dig it all night and all morning nearly non-stop to get it deep enough. It was a good thing that they had lived in a rural area, otherwise someone would have noticed – started asking some questions about where their grandmother had gone off to. They grew a garden over her corpse, planted carrots and tomatoes over her grave like she was glorified fertilizer.

Jack never came to regret what he had done. As far as he was concerned, he had killed her because she was a monster and she could have killed Tim and she probably would have if she had had the chance to enact her punishment like she had wanted. She was evil and he had done the right thing, bashing her head in. He had saved their lives.

He was a hero. He told himself that every night. He was a hero. He was a hero. He. Was. A. _Hero_.

But Timothy… he didn’t agree, Jack just knew it, even though he wouldn’t say it. He never looked at Jack the same way after that day. He would try to make himself act the same, but it would never be completely right. His smiles would be forced and his eyes would be nervous whenever Jack looked upon him. The two of them grew more and more distant over the years and once they were finally old enough to move out of the house they grew up in, Timothy never talked to him again.

He refused to. No matter how many times Jack tried to reach out and reconnect – they were twins after all, it was only natural for him to want to be close with his twin! – Timothy would refuse to so much as even look at him. Because Timothy couldn’t look at Jack anymore without wondering in terror what else Jack might be capable of. Just the thought of it made him feel sick with worry.

While Timothy discovered a monstrousness in his brother, Jack learned something else about himself. He had discovered that there was power in his hands. Power to hurt. Power to help. He could brutalize men and women without a single thought for what that meant about him, about his character or his morals. To him it didn’t matter, whether he would be viewed as a “good person” or a “bad person” because he knew the truth.

In Jack’s mind, he had a gift. A gift that he thought could be used for the greater good. He could make the world a better place, one death at a time. So he made a vow, to himself, that he would each and every monster that walked around, parading themselves in human disguises and wipe them off the face of the earth. And he would keep on killing them, as long as he lived, until his dying breath.

* * *

After Rhys fell asleep in the caravan, he didn’t wake up for nearly three days. Everything that had happened to him over the years had compounded together. All of his experiences, all of his trauma, everything that he had done and been forced to do all mixed together and overwhelmed him to the point that he had become nearly comatose. He didn’t even dream the whole time – it was just blackness for hours upon hours without any interruption. When he finally woke up, it took him a bit to stretch out his limbs and get rid of the stiffness and the aching that he felt deep in his bones.

Rhys walked out of the little room that he had been sleeping in and noticed Jack was sitting in the little kitchenette, with a bit of breakfast laid out – Eggs, toast, coffee, pancakes and little strips of bacon were all spread out on the table. The caravan was still moving, though slowly, and Rhys realized that it must have been self driving. Fancy, he thought. Then he realized just how hungry he was when his stomach started to growl. Loudly.

Jack chuckled a bit at the sight of his soul mate, “Mornin’ pumpkin” He hummed in greeting, with a pleasant smile fixed across his face. “You want some breakfast?” He asked, even though the answer was obvious. Rhys walked over to sit at the table and started serving himself a small portion of all the food. He rarely ate much, he never really had the chance or the freedom to and often he would go days without meals if he didn’t impress Vasquez or any of the other men that he answered to sufficiently.

The two of them ate somewhat quickly and in silence until Jack finally decided to speak up, “How you holding up?” He asked, “…With everything?” He hastily tacked on at the end, remembering that Rhys’ whole life had been some sort of nightmare – even if he didn’t know the full scope and scale of the abuse that his soul mate had suffered in his life, but he knew that he had gone through more pain than anyone as sweet and smart as him ever should.

Rhys pulled his knees to his chest and rest his chin on them, making himself look tiny. “I’m not really sure?” He replied, in a hesitant tone of voice. “It’s all hazy and muddled I guess. It feels good to be free, but how I got my freedom… I don’t know how to feel about it.”

Jack moved closer to Rhys and dared to run his fingers through the younger mans’ hair in what he hoped was a gentle and soothing manner. He wasn’t the best with emotions, but he could try to fake it, for Rhys’ sake. “It’s okay, if you’re feeling guilty.” He started, “And if you’re feeling guilty, or even if you’re blaming me for all of this,” He elaborated, tone gentle. “I get that, Rhysie, I really do. But I would never hurt you.” He promised. “And you don’t need to worry about anyone hurting you ever again.”

“No. No, that’s not it. I don’t blame you.” Rhys said, tone sharp as the serrated edge of a dagger, like he was making a concerted effort not to let himself be vulnerable right now. “And I don’t feel bad. At all. And that’s the problem! What kind of person am I, if I don’t care about their deaths…” He added, speaking more to himself than to Jack at this point. “I don’t care though, I’m happy that they’re dead.” His expression morphed to one of worry, he was nearly distraught. “What kind of person does that make me? Even after what they did to me?” He asked.

Rhys was pleading with Jack to help him feel less like a monster. “My kind of person.” Jack muttered to himself, low enough that Rhys couldn’t even hear him. Then he pulled Rhys in close and embraced him both tenderly and possessively. He noticed the way that Rhys clung to him and squeezed him even tighter. “You’re not a monster, baby. They are.” Jack murmured in his ear.

“A-are you sure?” Rhys asked in a voice that was tiny and frightened, completely unsure if that was the truth. “I can’t- I know that they were, that they hurt me, but they were still people. It was wrong.” He stammered out indelicately. His own morals were twisted enough already as it stood and he felt like taking pleasure in that sort of thing made him an even worse person by default.

“Those people hurt you.” Jack told him, not willing to deal with the idea of Rhys blaming himself for the abuse that he faced. “They treated you like dirt, they exploited you and hurt you.” Jack put Rhys’ face in his hands and made Rhys look him in the eye. “You didn’t deserve any of that, you never deserved what they did to you. You know that, don’t you baby?” He asked, genuinely curious if he did.

“I…” Rhys hesitated. He wanted to say that, yes, of course he didn’t deserve to be prostituted and trafficked out since he was too young to understand his own body. But a part of him, a tiny and insidious part of him, that he hated to think about, blamed himself for everything that he had gone through. That part of him that told him that, maybe if he was better behaved, his mother never would have sold him in the first place. He felt like it was his fault. “Yes?” He said, with an insecure lilt around the edges of his tone of voice, finally after moments of thinking it over himself.

It was obvious that Rhys wasn’t completely convinced of his own innocence. Jack responded by kissing him, very gently, on the lips. “Listen, Rhysie, those people – look at me – those fucking monsters who hurt you, they deserved every fucking thing that they got. Matter of fact, they deserved way more than what they got.” He said, voice clear and authoritative. If he had had the time, he would have tortured all of them for hours upon hours for what they had done. That was just a fact.

The younger man felt strangely comforted by Jack’s words and he wasn’t sure if that was because Jack was right, or because Rhys wanted him to be right. “I really want that to be true.” He admitted, in a voice that was incredibly soft spoken, so quiet that Jack wouldn’t have been able to hear him if they weren’t pressed so closely together.

“It is true.” Jack told him, deadly serious, before he decided to change the subject to something a little bit lighter. “Oh! By the way, I got you some new clothes while you were sleeping back there.” He gestured towards a dresser that was fixed to the back wall. “They’re in there. Hope they’re your style.”He added, mostly as a tease. Rhys giggled at that, before a thought crossed his mind and made his stomach turn, just a little bit. He didn’t really know what his style was. He didn’t know what he liked. He didn’t really know what he disliked. Pretty much all of his life, things had been dictated for him, he never had that kind of choice. It was upsetting, having his agency taken from him for pretty much his entire life, but he shook off the thought with the reminder that that was all over now.

He was safe now, he would be happy with his soul mate. He needed to be happy and he clung to the thought that Jack could save him – could fix him and love him, despite how unclean and rotten he always felt – like it was his only hope for survival. In many ways, it was.

Rhys grabbed one of the outfits that Jack had bought for him and headed to the little off shooting bathroom and showered. When he finally returned back to the main area of the caravan, dressed in his new – expensive, nicely fitting clothes, Jack was sitting down with a photo album in hand, looking over it like it was gospel. “What’s that you’re looking at?” Rhys asked, innocent curiosity heavy in his tone. Jack looked up at him and Rhys smiled gently, he motioned for Rhys to sit back down next to him.

Jack put an arm around his shoulder and pulled him in close, Rhys instinctively cuddled back against him. In the short time that he had known Jack, his soul mate had been overly willing with physical affection and Rhys just loved it. He loved being hugged, he loved having his hair played with, he loved being kissed gently and touched in all the comforting ways that he had always been denied for most of his life. “Ah, just some old photos.” Jack replied, after a moment. “I was thinking about my brother.”

Rhys’ eyes lit up with curiosity, “You have a brother?” Rhys asked and then Jack pointed out a photo of him and someone who looked exactly like him, with their arms around each other and big smiles on their faces. “You have a twin brother?” He corrected himself at the sight of them.

“Yeah, but we’re not really close these days.” Jack replied shortly, “We had a falling out, a while ago, and we don’t talk anymore.” He smiled, but it was tight and it looked to Rhys like there was pain behind his eyes. It was obvious that he didn’t want to talk about it and that was fine. Instead of asking any questions about it, or even speaking at all, Rhys delicately lay his hand over Jacks’ own and squeezed it in a comforting gesture. Jack grinned at him and ducked over to kiss his cheek. “It’s best not to think about it too much.” Jack said, before closing the photo album and putting it away.

And then Jack changed the subject back to Rhys, he wanted to know more about him – he wanted to know every little thing about him, the good things, the bad things. Everything. Rhys was hesitant to be forthcoming, partially because a lot of things about him were either too painful to talk about, or things that he wasn’t really sure of because of the years of captivity that he had suffered.

They came to a compromise – Rhys would talk about himself, or the things he was comfortable sharing about himself, so long as Jack shared some things about himself too. It worked out for the best. Jack found out that Rhys loved ice cream as well as all sorts of sweet things and that he gobbled it up every time that he was allowed it.

He found out that Rhys loved music and that he genuinely enjoyed singing and when he was a child he would sing to the younger kids to comfort them. He found out that Rhys had always wanted tattoos, but that he had never had the freedom to choose how he looked. He found out that Rhys had always been into computers and the newest tech, that he had wanted to get into programming whenever he had the chance.

Jack tried to be as forthcoming as possible, he told Rhys about how he had put himself through school and worked in engineering. He told Rhys about some of his upbringing – that he had grown up in a small town and he was a bit of a hoodlum for most of his teen years. He told him about being picked up by Hyperion right out of college and how lucky he had been to get that leg up in the corporate ladder.

When the subject of Hyperion came up, Rhys was immediately curious about it. Even he had heard about Hyperion, it was one of the leading corporations in the world. They were pioneers in tech, weaponry, prosthesis – basically, anything you could think of. “You’re Hyperion’s CEO?” He asked, marveling a bit at the revelation. “But you’re still so young! That’s incredible.” He gushed adoringly.

Jack’s expression got a bit smug, Rhys probably shouldn’t have been feeding his ego like that, it was dangerous. He thought it was cute anyways. “Yeah, the board loves me.” He explained, “They even booted the jerk ass who ran it back when I was just an engineer on the main floor. It was a risk, I guess, but they took a chance on me.” He added. And it had worked out perfectly for them too, Jack had boosted Hyperion’s profits and growth a hundred fold.

Rhys just couldn’t help but go into fan boy mode. “I heard about all Hyperion growing up. Not everything, you know, they kept us in the dark about pretty much everything that went on outside but…” He started babbling, speaking animatedly with his hands. “It's just- When I was younger I learned about your digi-structing technology, it was that girl... The one who couldn't see, do you remember?" Jack did. It was a hell of a PR stunt. Risky too, if it hadn't worked out well, Hyperion might have sunk to the ground. They'd never recover from making a blind girls condition worse. Rhys continued on speaking, "Okay, so, you did that whole live on TV transplant and she could see when it was over. I watched the whole thing and I thought it was just _amazing_! She got her agency back, you did an amazing thing for her. Anyway, it's what got me into tech, made me want to learn about it!" His tone was delighted and excited. It was exactly the kind of thing that Jack loved to hear, though very rarely did he show that side of himself to the public. He'd show it to Rhys though, he decided, Rhys deserved that much. Then very suddenly, Rhys' mood soured and he looked at his hands like he was afraid that if he looked at Jack, he would be hit. "Sorry, for rambling. It was annoying." He apologized, numbly.

“No, don't apologize. You were being cute.” Jack assured him quickly, before an idea popped up in his head. “I could show you around the headquarters, if you like, when we get to sanctuary.” He looked over to where the caravan’s console was, “Should only be a few more hours, then it’s home sweet home, cupcake!” He added, making a grand gesture with his arms that was reminiscent of a game show host telling him that he had just won a brand new car.

Rhys laughed a bit at that, “So Sanctuary’s your home?” He clarified. “Our home?” He corrected after a moment or two. He and Jack were soul mates, he reminded himself – it still felt so strange to him the mere idea that he would even have a soul mate at all, never mind someone as successful, talented and brilliant as Jack was. To him at least.

Rhys didn’t think that he deserved that sort of fortune or good luck. He didn’t think that he deserved much of anything at all. He thought that Jack was too good for him – that everybody was too good for him, that no one should ever have to be saddled with a broken mess like him. A part of him understood that that was probably a mixture of his own self loathing and the hero worship that he had for Jack – though, in a way, he was Rhys’ hero. Because Jack had, literally, saved him, rescued him from the hellish prison that he had been forced to live in for nearly all of his life.

Jack made a wishy-washy motion with his hand. “Eh, Yeah, pretty much.” He replied, after a few moments. It was only a half truth. Jack had a had a home in every city that had a Hyperion branch in it and at least a dozen or so more safe houses for his other, more discretionary, purposes that Rhys wouldn’t need to worry about. At least not right now. But Sanctuary was probably his favorite place to be. He spent a lot of time in Sanctuary, at least when he wasn’t on the road, because Sanctuary happened to be where Hyperion’s base of operations was. He was sure that Rhys might have known that already, given his interest in his company.

“How is it there?” Rhys asked as a strange feeling that was like a mix of anxiety and giddiness began to pool in the pit of his stomach. “Is it nice?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s _great_. You’ll love it there, pumpkin. I practically own the whole fucking town! It’s great.” Jack promised him, tone earnest and honest. “I’ve got this penthouse in the middle of the city with a great view. It’s beautiful…When we get in town, I can show you around the place. Maybe I’ll take you to some shops and I can finally start spoiling you rotten.”

Rhys smiled, “I’d like that.” He said in kind. He hoped that he was right about that. He’d love it if Sanctuary became his new… **Sanctuary**.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bleh, sorry this took so long.
> 
> This chapter has Rhys getting used to life in Sanctuary, getting some tattoos, jack spoiling him, a little bit of smut and Rhys making a new friend :)

The first thing that Jack decided to do once they arrived in Sanctuary was take Rhys out and spoil him within an inch of his life. He had planned on taking him lots of different places, buying him lots of clothes and books and games, maybe even get him a new tattoo if they had the time. And Rhys was excited for all of that, but he also felt that Sanctuary was… a lot. It was a lot for him to take in.

There were many buildings, skyscrapers and little corner shops dotting every street corner. There were a lot of people that were always moving through the city – laughing, cursing and talking with their friends as they made their way down the crowded streets. But more than anything else, it was just loud. Rhys tried his best not to be bothered by all of the commotion that was intrinsic to city living. He knew that he would get used to it eventually and he didn’t want to bother Jack with all of the anxiety that he was feeling. God forbid that he came off as needy or clingy this early in their relationship.

Still, it was hard for Rhys not to cling onto his arm as Jack led him around – though Jack didn’t seem to mind it in the least and happily embraced him right back, with an arm constantly thrown over Rhys’ shoulder and an occasional comforting squeeze at his arm. It was nice. Really nice.

They toured several clothing stores and Jack encouraged Rhys to spend as much money as possible. If he saw Rhys so much as look at something for more than two seconds, he would pick it up himself and throw it in the pile of things that he planned on buying for him. Rhys stopped his halfhearted protests about half an hour after they entered the first store. He had realized, very quickly, that he quite liked being spoiled, he loved the attention that Jack gave him and the way that he was so willing to give him each and every pretty little thing that Rhys even gave the hint of wanting.

That was nice too, but it was also incredibly overwhelming. A lot of things about Jack were overwhelming to Rhys though, so he tried to go with the flow with the hope that he would eventually be desensitized to the grandiosity that the older man loved to project. He wasn’t exactly the most elegant person that Rhys had ever met, but somehow he made that inelegance look charming and sweet.

After the two of them had tired out from the shopping, Jack decided to take Rhys out for some ice cream. Before today, Rhys had had ice cream maybe three times in his life but it was always a treat, no matter what it had been associated with. Which was saying a lot, considering how it had been associated with a lot of… less than savory things, especially when he was younger.

Jack intertwined his fingers with Rhys’ own as they walked down the street with their ice cream in hand – Rhys had gotten himself a double scoop of mint chocolate chip and Jack had gotten himself a monstrosity made of caramel, soft pretzels, fudge and chocolate ice cream that he had had to berate the woman behind the counter into making correctly for him. “So… how you liking the city so far?” He asked, mindful of the way that Rhys seemed to cling at his side wherever they went. It wasn’t like he minded it, not even a little bit, but he didn’t want Rhys feeling uncomfortable in his new hometown.

Rhys wasn’t sure how to put together all of his thoughts. “It’s, uhm, it’s…” Then he hesitated, “It’s loud.” He said with a shrug. Jack laughed at that and Rhys flushed, covering his mouth with the ice cream cone in his hand. “I’ll get used to it soon, I know but it’s just-” As if to prove his point, a small group of teenagers pushed past Rhys and his ice cream got knocked out of his hand, a little bit spilling on his cheek as he did. He pouted at the loss. It was just his luck, he thought. “That! It’s like that. Do you see what I mean now?” He said, a helpless expression on his face.

Jack understood him perfectly, even more as Rhys continued on to explain himself further. “It’s just… for years I was locked in these small rooms with only a couple of people in them and we would rarely even speak to each other. For years I could go days without speaking to anyone, but now.” He gestured broadly around the place, “All this. It’s so much. It’s too much! It’s overwhelming.” He sighed, feeling like he was coming off as ungrateful. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, Rhysie. You don’t need to apologize for anything. Ever.” Jack admonished him lightly, before he swiped his fingers over Rhys’ cheek, scooping the ice cream up with them. “And don’t worry about it, kitten. You get used to the city after a while.” He promised. He knew that from experience and he told Rhys as much. “It loses it’s charm after a while, soon you’ll be screaming at people on the street for bumping into you just like everyone else in the city.”

“I hope so-” Rhys stopped dead in his tracks as he eyed a shop with a purple neon sign that read: “The Purple Skag” on it, with eclectic decorations on the outside and a notice on the front window declaring it one of the top tattoo shops in Sanctuary, “Oh, wow.” He said, before he turned to Jack with big, pleading eyes. “Could we go in there and see if they have any openings?” He asked, feeling a little brave as he eyed the tattoo shop. It was an impulsive decision, he knew that, but still he couldn’t help but pleadingly look up at the older man. Already, he felt like he was getting a bit spoiled and it had only been a couple of days. Secretly, he really hoped that Jack would keep treating him like this forever.

“You know…that’s the first time you’ve turned and asked me for something, kitten.” Jack commented as he pulled Rhys closer to his side, slinging an arm over the younger man’s shoulder. Rhys blushed, looking down at his shoes as he fidgeted with his fingers. Rhys was about to open his mouth and apologize – or tell him to just forget about it – when Jack kissed his cheek and pulled back with a proud smile on his face. “Let’s go in, I’ll be sure getcha whatever you like.” He said, as he urged Rhys inside of the shop.

The tattoo shop that Jack took him to didn’t look like any place that he would have expected. He had always seen tattoo shops as these dirty and grimy places where unsavory types of people liked to congregate with each other. It was silly, but the only way he had been exposed to them was through TV and movies. (What else was he supposed to think they were like?) Instead of any of his initial ideas about it, the place was incredibly pristine and clean looking – with pictures of people’s results framed all over the walls and rock music playing at a comfortable volume over the speakers.

They were called upon, only minutes after they had sat themselves down in the waiting area, by a woman who introduced herself as Sasha – who had recognized Jack immediately as the CEO of Hyperion and figured that it would be good business to serve him as quickly as possible. She turned on the charm, severely. “Handsome Jack, here in our shop?” She asked rhetorically, then donned a ten million dollar smile. “I’m flattered.” She said,“You must have heard about us in-”

Jack cut her off with a dismissive motion of his hand,“Yeah, you can stop right there, pumpkin. You’re embarrassing yourself and I’m not interested in anything that you’re selling.” He stated in a dismissive tone, like she wasn’t even worth the breath it took for him to say even that. It was intentionally insulting.

Sasha’s expression soured then, and her mouth twisted into a grimace. She looked right about to say something to him and ask him why she was wasting her time then, when Rhys interjected,“I, actually, I was gonna be the one to get the tattoo. Not Jack.” He said, raising his hand up halfheartedly. “If you have any openings right now I mean, or maybe we could get an appointment or something?” He smiled in a nervous sort of way, “I don’t really know how a lot of this works…” He said, with a tiny shrug.

Sasha was secretly very grateful that Rhys said something before she made an ass of herself in front of someone that had enough money and power to ruin her life – if he wanted. “Right, of course, let me go get August. He’s got openings right now, we can get you set up in, like, five minutes.”

August was out quickly. He cut an intimidating figure, tall and broad with spiky blond hair and arms covered in tattoos, Rhys almost cowered away from him – just because the sight of him was a little too familiar to some unpleasant men that he had come across in his life. He had to make himself stand straight and smile as Jack nudged Rhys forward with a small smile on his face, urging the younger man not to be shy. Rhys smiled nervously and tried to gather his thoughts up into something coherent.

He was already so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that day, and it was hard for him to piece everything together. It was even harder because August made him a little nervous – though he knew that it wasn’t necessarily August’ fault that he did. He struggled to get out a proper introduction for himself – and an explanation of what he wanted – for a few minutes when Jack decided to step in and help him. He stopped babbling when Jack put a comforting hand on his shoulder and gave him a look that helped calm Rhys down, “What he’s trying to say is that he’s new in town, so he’s a little nervous, and he wants to get himself his first tattoo.” Then he looked over at Rhys, “Did I get all of that right?” He asked in a low voice.

Rhys nodded at him, “Yes! That.” He agreed, with a nervous giggle punctuating his statement. “Thank you.” He whispered to Jack.

“No problem, kitten.” Jack whispered back to him with a small smile on his face, unconsciously pulling him close in a protective manner as he spoke.

August smiled and his expression was a bit gentler than Rhys had expected and he realized, with a bit of guilt, that he was probably making snap judgments about him. “New in town, huh?” He said, “I should have thought. You look a little green. So, uh-” He paused, realizing that he hadn’t gotten his name yet, or even been given the chance to ask for it until now.

“Rhys.” He supplied in a chipper tone.

“Right, so, Rhys, what are you thinkin’ of?” He asked and Rhys quickly took to explaining exactly what he wanted – something small for him to start out – He even put forth the effort of sketching it out on a pad of paper, so August would know exactly what he wanted. The design was something that he had been imagining for years, he wasn’t entirely sure why but it had been in his head since he was young. August let out a low whistle, like he was feeling something that was a mix of impressed with his choice and dubious about whether or not he thought that Rhys could take it.“Your neck?” He clarified, “For your first tattoo? Are you sure about that?” He said and then went on to explain how there were places

“Oh no, it’s fine. I can handle pain.” Rhys replied with a gentle, reassuring smile on his face and a dismissive wave of his hand to project confidence in how little it would affect him. He had a high tolerance to pain – he had learned to deal with it over the years. Physical pain was easy to deal with, once you got used to it. “I have, um, I have a high tolerance.” He added, somewhat bashfully like it was something to be ashamed of.

“Alright… but don’t cry to me when you have regrets.” August replied as he led him to sit up at one of the padded chairs, exposing the part of his neck where he wanted the tattoo to be. Rhys was sitting there – still as a statue – for at least several hours, while August worked on him. Jack was in and out of the place a lot – making various calls and keeping things running smoothly at Hyperion while his soul mate was indisposed – but Rhys barely noticed, anyways.

He was too focused on the feeling of receiving the tattoo. It hurt, but it was easy for him to focus on the physical pain and direct it as a sort of healing balm for all of the emotions that he was feeling. In a strange way, it made him feel better about everything. By the time that August had finished up with the tattoo on his neck, the one thing that he was sure of was that he wanted more tattoos. Maybe even a piercing or two, once he got a little bit more bold and confident about asking for what he wanted.

* * *

  
It was late by the time that they finally decided to retire back to Jack’s home – an expansive brownstone that was at least four times the size of the average townhouse. It was located right in the middle of Sanctuary, it was almost as if the town had been built around it – like Jack had always been a fixture of the town. Jack practically carried Rhys into the threshold because the younger man was so sleepy and contented. The entire house was lovely, Rhys thought as he looked around the place.

It was large and spacious, clean looking and furnished with expensive looking furniture and décor. Absolutely nothing was out of place. It looked like something out of a high end magazine. Rhys was a bit floored by all the luxury that surrounded him; he had never been surrounded by so much expense and luxury in his life. His expression was wondrous as he looked at all the sleek furnishings and clean, tasteful looking decorations. The only clutter in the penthouse were the bags upon bags of things that Jack had bought for Rhys.

Rhys took to unpacking and folding everything up immediately. There were lots of clothes – professional looking ones, like: button down shirts, pressed slacks, vests and leather boots. More casual ones, too, like: T-shirts, jeans, sweaters and sneakers. Then there were some comfort items: soft blankets, books, fancy soaps and fluffy bathrobes, as well as some other modern necessities such as a brand new cell phone and a laptop. Rhys was so enthralled by everything that he had seen that he didn’t notice Jack walking up behind him until the older man wrapped his arms around his waist and pressed feather light kisses all over his neck and shoulder.

Jack had gone off into his study, briefly after they brought all the bags up – he told Rhys that he had a bit of work to do, but to make himself comfortable and he would be back in an hour or so. Rhys intended to do just that – he walked into the bathroom off-shooting their bedroom with some of his new soaps and one of the robes that he had gotten that day. He set up the tub with lots of bubbles and a glittery pink and purple bath bomb.

He stripped himself down and stepped into the bathtub, the water splashing around his body as he lowered himself down into the soapy, hot water. The tub was so spacious that even something as tall as he was could stretch his legs out comfortably in it. He closed his eyes, slowly washing himself while his hands gently and innocently explored his body in a way that he had never been given the chance to before. Rhys felt as though, for the longest time, he was stuck in arrested development.

He was simultaneously forced to grow up incredibly fast at an incredibly young age, while he was also kept sheltered to a ridiculous point for all the things that he had been made to do – because he had been kept a prisoner. But, still, he didn’t know how the world worked. He barely understood how his own body worked – what he liked and what he didn’t like. Usually, when he was made to have sex, or perform sex acts on someone else, his mind would drift off while his body went into auto-pilot. It was the only way that he kept himself sane.

He doesn’t think he’s ever experienced any sort of attraction… to anyone, before he met Jack. He didn’t know if that was normal, or if it was just normal for him. Maybe nothing about his experiences would ever be normal, he thought. Maybe he should just go with the flow – do what feels good to him and what makes him happy. He sat in the tub for nearly forty five minutes, just… thinking. About Jack, about himself and about where he would go from here. By the time that he got out, his skin was prune-y and tinged with a pinkish hue. It sparkled a bit too, from the glittery bath bomb. After Rhys dried himself off, he looked at himself naked in the full length mirror.

He looked different now, then he did days ago when he was trapped in the Happy Pig Motel – but a lot of signs of the abuse that he experienced were still present. He was still a little bit too thin, they had never fed him very well – if he didn’t perform well for his “clients” he was liable to be starved. There was still quite a bit bruising, all over him – bruising on his ribs, on his collarbone, fingerprint shaped marks on his hips and thighs and there were permanent bruises on his knees. They would never go away, they would always be a reminder of his life until now.

His fingers brushed over the bruise on collarbone for a moment before he poked at it, partially out of curiosity and partially to punish himself for things that had never been in his control in the first place – eliciting a pained gasp out of him. Then he was struck with the strangest thought – he wondered if Jack might mark him if they ever… if he ever got that comfortable with anyone again. He knew that they would get there someday, maybe someday soon but for now…he wouldn’t mind experimenting. Just a bit, just to see what he liked.

Rhys smiled as he tied the fluffy robe closed against his waist. He walked out into the living room and looked around for Jack. He found his soul mate sitting on one of the bar stools in the kitchen, nursing a stiff drink. “Hey, pumpkin. There you are…” He greeted, raising his glass towards Rhys. “You wanna nightcap?” He offered as he moved towards the bar that he always kept readily stocked.

Rhys bit his lip as he thought on it. He had been drinking, at least semi-regularly, for quite a while. Since he was fifteen, at least. “Sure.” He said, after a moment.

“Alright,” Jack slammed his hands down on the bar. “What are you having, Rhysie?” He asked, “I can make you pretty much anything you like. Probably.”

“Um…” Rhys’ voice lilted up higher as he thought about it. He had mostly drunk straight liquor when he was in the motel. Because it was all he had, and it was the quickest, simplest way to get through the night. But he could afford to be picky now, so that was what he was gonna do. “Could you make me a cocktail? Like, something sweet?” He asked, in a nervous and quiet manner.

“Something sweet.” Jack agreed, “Comin’ right up baby.” He said, before turning around and whipping him up a blue raspberry cocktail in just a few moments.

Rhys thanked him and smiled as he took the glass from Jack. “Tastes like lemonade.” Rhys commented after he took a few sips. After he drank the rest of it down, he asked for another one. Jack was quick to oblige him that. After his second drink, he decided that that was enough and walked back off to the bedroom to relax and prepare himself for bed.

Rhys settled down onto the soft and silky sheets and spread his limbs out like a starfish, sighing in pleasure. He practically rolled around like a cat, loving the way that the soft fabric felt against his pale skin. He only stopped when he could hear Jack chuckling and he perked up to see the older man, standing against the door frame. “What?” He asked innocently.

Rhys rolled over on the bed and looked at Jack, who was still admiring him with a smirk present on his face. Rhys smiled in kind, a heavy blush spreading across his cheeks. He couldn’t help but giggle with glee at the sight of his soul mate leering at him like he was someone special. “Why are you lookin’ at me like that?” He asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Jack shook his head, an adoring grin stretched across his face. “You’re just so cute.” He said, walking closer to where Rhys lay on his bed – looking to him like a present that he needed to unwrap. “I can’t believe I got so lucky.” Jack took a few grand steps and sat down on the edge of the bed. His hand trailed down Rhys’ thigh in an appreciative manner. “Never thought I’d even have a soulmate but… here you are.”

Jack’s hands were so gentle when they touched him that Rhys couldn’t help but lean into the touch. He felt so safe with the older man. It was kind of strange – considering what he knew Jack was capable of, but he did. He felt safe and secure with him and he seriously doubted that Jack would so much as harm a hair on his head. His hands also stayed in safe zones, careful not to go too far or touch him anywhere that would bother him. Rhys had gone through a lot of trauma and pain in his somewhat short life and neither of them really knew what might set him off – anything could trigger some sort of trauma response in him and Jack would much rather play it safe with him.

After a bit of light petting and gentle, sweet kissing, Rhys spoke up. “You know…” He said, in an unsure tone of voice. “We can do more than this, um, if you want to?” He suggested, equally shy, but a little more sure of himself now. He smiled coyly. “I like this but maybe we can um… do more?” His voice got a little bit more quiet with each and every word that he spoke.

“You sure about that, pumpkin?” Jack asked, drawing himself up on his elbows. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I wouldn’t love that – but, eh, I don’t wanna pressure you into anything that you’re not ready for yet…” He said, uncharacteristically unsure.

“Yeah I mean I was thinking…about it earlier.” Rhys said, “About being with you like that.” He smiled nervously. “I just, I guess that I’ve never thought about anyone like that before. It was just something that was imposed upon me. It’s not something I ever liked doing. But with you, I want to try and see if I can enjoy it after everything I’ve been through.” He explained what he felt as best as he could, “Can we? Can we try?” He asked, sincerely hoping for a ‘yes.’

Jack smiled at him in response and moved to cup his face in his hands. Then he kissed him, open mouthed and incredibly gentle about it. Rhys smiled against the contact. “Of course we can.” Jack told him, “We can do whatever you like.” He offered and then put his hands up like he was surrendering himself. “Just tell me what to do, baby, and I’ll do it for you.” He promised.

“Whatever I like?” Rhys asked and then smiled, somewhat mischievously. Jack nodded and urged him to continue, “Okay…” He said, pausing to think about it. A blush crept across his face. “Can you… can you unlace my robe first?” Jack smiled in a devilish sort of way before untying the silk wrap and letting it fall off of him. The sleeves fell down his shoulders on their own and Rhys shrugged the robe off of his body, letting it fall behind him. Jack was then greeted to a sight of a nearly naked Rhys, clad only in a skimpy pair of black briefs with a blue racing stripe going over both sides of it.

Jack wanted to tear them off of the younger man. But Rhys was in control here, so he took a symbolic step back and waited for Rhys to give him another order. “Take off your shirt.” Rhys said, a bit more confidently than before. Jack grinned and did as he was told. He pulled his sweater over his head and threw it behind him carelessly. “Okay, now – the rest of it.” He said, gesturing vaguely at all of Jack.

“Getting pretty eager, there, huh?” Jack asked him, with an obvious wriggle of his brows. “I mean I can’t really blame you for it but-”

Rhys stopped him speaking by, very gently, pressing his hand over Jacks’ mouth. His face was red from blushing so much. “Just do it – please?” Rhys replied, exasperated. “This is already kind of embarrassing, so just…don’t make it worse.”

Jack threw his hands up in mock surrender, “Alright, alright… don’t be so pushy.” He said, before doing as Rhys asked – stripping himself down basically naked. He held his arms out like he was some sort of main attraction, “Like what you see?” He asked, a cocky expression on his face.

Rhys responded by playfully pushing at his chest, allowing Jack to fall back on his back. He straddled the older man, “Yes.” He chirped adoringly. “I do. I really do.” He added, as he sat up on his knees and slowly pulled his briefs off of himself. Jack sat up a little straighter and fixed Rhys with a curious sort of look. Rhys pulled forward and kissed him passionately, a kiss that Jack was happy to return.

Their cocks brushed against each other and Rhys let out a soft, little gasp. It was obvious that no one had ever bothered to care about his pleasure before. For the longest time, he was treated as a means to an end for most of the people that had sex with him. But Jack was different from all of his past partners, and he let himself be passive to his soul mate for the time being.

Rhys let out a soft sigh as he rutted his hips against the older mans’ own. “I don’t want any penetration right now. Maybe…maybe someday, but not now.” He said. “Is that okay?” He asked, in a voice that was breathless and pitch-y. Jack responded with feather light kisses all over the younger mans jaw.Rhys took that as a definite yes and continued to roll his hips against the other mans’ own. The two of them pressed tightly against one another as they moved in sync.

Rhys held on tight to Jack, his legs practically wrapped around the older mans hips while they ground their cocks together. It didn’t take long for both of them to come. Rhys came first and Jack followed him shortly. They panted and gasped, kissed and moaned softly in each others mouths as the two of them wound down from their orgasm.

Rhys sighed and rolled off of him and lay on his side, while Jack got up and walked into the bathroom, coming back with a warm, damp cloth to clean the both of them up. The two of them lay curled up against each other, falling asleep quickly – entangled in each other both physically and emotionally.

* * *

  
When Jack’s alarm rang out the next morning, Rhys was pressed tight against him – holding onto him, with his arms encircled around him tightly, like his life depended on it. He smiled down at the younger man, reveling in how cute he was and how lucky he was to have him as a soul mate. Then he leaned down and kissed him on the top of his head. Rhys was an incredibly light sleeper, so that gentle touch was enough to rouse him. His eyes fluttered open and he looked at the older man with a confused, sleepy expression on his face. “Mornin’ pumpkin.” He said.

“Hi…” Rhys replied, as he tried to wake himself up. “Wha’ time is it?” He asked the older man, voice heavy and sleep laden. “Feels really early.” He pouted and furrowed his brows in a disgruntled fashion.

“It is early.” Jack confirmed with an indulgent smile on his face. “It’s okay. You don’t need to wake up.” He soothed, “But I gotta go in and make sure that Hyperion is still up and running.” He chuckled and absentmindedly soothed down Rhys’ curly, bedridden hair. “These idiots can’t handle being on their own for more than a few days, or the whole damn company will just implode on itself.” He explained. Rhys nodded meekly and let his eyes fall shut, falling back asleep for the next few hours.

After Jack left, Rhys was left to his own devices for the first time in his life. Completely unfettered and free from any restrictions, he could do anything that he wanted right then. And that was great – or it would have been, if he knew what the hell he should be doing. Jack had left him a credit card and told him that if he wanted to go on any more impromptu shopping trips while he was out running Hyperion, he was more than welcome to.

Maybe he could do that, he thought, if he could get over the strange, all encompassing anxiety that he felt when he thought of braving the city without leaning on Jack to protect him from all the ills of the world. He’d get there someday, but he doubted that that would be today. He felt simultaneously like he was safely cloistered in the large house, and suffocated by its safety – but, ultimately, it was safer than braving the outside world. So, he took another long and relaxing bath. Then he cleaned the entire house, then when he was done with that, he tried out a few recipes that he had looked up online. By nearly two PM, he was pretty much out of things to do. And he was incredibly bored.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the doorbell rang. Rhys was so bored out of his mind that he clamored to answer it. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see a woman not much younger than him – dressed in a hodgepodge mix between a school uniform and an engineer’s garb, her hair done up in twin ponytails. One of her arms, he noticed, was mechanical and black. “Hi.” She said.

“Hi?” He said, after a moment – entirely confused by her presence.

“This is Jack’s place, right?” She asked, “I got the right address from his assistant?”

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Rhys asked, patience running incredibly thin in moments.

“I’m Gaige.” She held her hand out in greeting. Rhys took it after a moment and shook her hand. He introduced himself. “I, um, I called his assistant and asked about getting an internship with Hyperion. He gave me this address as his Sanctuary home. Honestly thought he might have given me a fake place.” She explained.

“Yeah…” Rhys said warily, with a nervous smile on his face. “This is the place. I’m not gonna regret telling you that, am I?” He asked, only halfway jokingly.

Gaige pointedly ignored his question and carried on. “Is he here?” She asked hopefully. “I just want to talk to him, maybe show him my portfolio…” She trailed off, like she realized that Rhys probably didn’t care much about the minutia of her process.

“No, he’s at Hyperion today.” He replied. “Sorry.”

“Could I come in and wait for him, then?” She pleaded.

“I don’t really feel comfortable with letting you in.” Rhys replied, in an apologetic sort of way. There was security. If Rhys wanted to, he could probably just call them up and have her hauled off. But that didn’t feel right to him. The thought of calling up security to haul a teenager that probably weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet felt ridiculous to him.

Gaige sighed, exasperated and exhausted. “Okay I get that but… what if I sit out here on the porch and you supervise me until he gets here, and then I can talk with him? Please? Please?” She suggested.

Rhys paused and pulled a face. “I, I’m not sure that that’s…” He started, only to be interrupted by the hyperactive, slightly younger girl in front of him.

“Just hear me out! Okay, so, you don’t want me in your house – which I totally get, you don’t know me, I don’t know you… and you, well, you seem kind of squirmy anyway-”

“Squirmy?” Rhys interjected, with a bewildered expression on his face.

“What I’m trying to say is I get it.” She said. “So maybe instead of letting me in, you can sit with me until he gets back and I can hang out with you.” Rhys opened his mouth to argue, but she was quicker than him. More desperate too. “Just – look, I need this internship! Okay. I’ve wanted to work in engineering and robotics since I was five. I would never do something as crazy as this otherwise, but I’m really desperate, man.” She clasped her hands together in a mock of a prayer. “Just please give me this chance.”

“You know there’s about a 75 percent chance that Jack will just file a restraining order and have you sent to jail.” Rhys informed her in a no nonsense sort of way. Because it was true and, really, seventy five percent was an incredibly generous estimate on his part. “Forever. And ever. No second chances.”

“Yeah.” She replied shortly, “That’s a risk I’m gonna have to be willing to take.” And that was enough for Rhys to be at least somewhat convinced that she meant what she said, and that maybe – just maybe – he should be willing to give her a chance. So Rhys set out some baked goods that he had made and some lemonade and the two of them sat on the front stoop and talked about their interests, their goals.

Eventually, the conversation turned towards why Gaige was so desperate to see Handsome Jack in person. He found out that Gaige wanted to work with Hyperion because of their robotics program. She had always had a natural talent for building them. She had even built a guard bot that was meant to serve as a bullying deterrent. She called it DeathTrap – but shortened it to DT, for obvious reasons.

“…So, I planned on taking it to the science fair. You know, to get recognized.” She explained finally, in a dull, nearly annoyed, tone of voice. “I live blogged the whole thing, probably a bad idea because the next thing I know – Marcie Holloway stole my idea and she tried to copy my designs! Can you believe that? You know how I found out? The local paper.”

The next thing that Rhys knew she was pulling out her phone and pulling up a PDF copy of the article. He had no doubt that she had obsessively read over it – hoping to reach a conclusion where she could have done something to prevent it, only to find out that there was nothing she could have done about it. That it was entirely unfair, mainly because it wasn’t her fault. Rhys quickly read it over. He was an incredibly fast reader. “Wait, she stole your idea and sold it to the cops?” Rhys clarified, entirely perplexed. Gaige nodded, Rhys’ mouth opened and eyes widened just a bit. “Wow… what a--”

“Bitch?” Gaige guessed, “Totally.” She sighed, brushed her bangs out of her face. “Well anyway. I brought DT to the fair anyways, because fuck Marcie, right?”

“Yeah.” Rhys agreed with a nod, taking a bite of one of the muffins he had made earlier as she continued on.

“Her bot sucked!” She said, “It couldn’t even get a few steps out of the box before it busted. Whereas, DeathTrap, he did everything I programmed him to do. I even had him give me a little zap to show that he’s nonlethal. I should have won, I’m the clear winner here. I mean, hello?” Rhys snorted at that, “But, then, oh, I forgot that she’s got more money than god, and payed off all the judges. I got third place. Which, may as well be last place.” She held up three fingers, “Third place! Can you believe that?”

“Unfortunately, yeah, I can.” Rhys said.

“Ugh, then it got worse.” She said, “So after she got first place.” Rhys opened his mouth to question that, “Yeah. I know. Ridiculous, right? Anyways, she won and she started making fun of me and DeathTrap and gloating…” She sighed, “She, um, she was laughing at me and then she pushed me.” She explained. “Um, so… DeathTrap was still out, I still had him digi-structed, and he mistook her for a threat. And he zapped her. Just like he zapped me, but maybe, a little more?” She didn’t seem very torn up about it, but at this point Rhys didn’t really have a fond impression of Marcy, so he couldn’t really blame her.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s fine.” Gaige said, tone dismissive. “She just fell and some of her hair got singed. Big deal. But she started wailing and crying for held and the next thing I know, I’m in the principals office and I’m getting expelled three months before graduating. I never even got detention before that day!”

“That’s not fair.” Rhys pointed out and even as he said it he felt like he was being a little bit too obvious.

“No.” She agreed, suddenly very sullen. “It’s not.” Rhys completely understood then, why she was so desperate to get an audience with Jack and explain her situation. Eventually Jack came home, to the incredibly strange sight of his soul mate laughing and giggling with each other.

“What’s going on here?” He asked, looking at the two of them with a confused sort of expression. He hadn’t expected the younger man to make friends so easily. Rhys smiled up at him.

“Hey!” He said. “This is Gaige…” He gestured, a bit awkwardly towards her. “We’ve been hanging out I guess and she um, she wanted to talk to you about an internship. Her situation is pretty messed up, but maybe you could give her a chance?” He pleaded with his soul mate. “I know this sounds crazy, but please?”

Jack hesitated for only a moment before he answered in kind, “Alright. If Rhys feels for your situation and trusts you… then I guess I have no choice but to hear you out.” He said, “Both of you come inside.” He directed. With Rhys’ help, and his good word put in, Gaige ended up getting that interview and the internship that she had been hoping for. On a trial basis, that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IRL you probably shouldn't get your tattoos wet but this is a fanfic so suspend your disbelief lmao


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ah its been so long!!! sorry, i was depressed for a while so i was completely unproductive for like 2 and a half months. plus i had to rewrite the whole chapter bc i hated the structure of the first draft, but i finally got it out and finished. :)
> 
> TW for semi-graphic child molestation, its brief but better to be safe with this kind of stuff. if you want to skip it you can just make sure to stop reading at "He clucked his tongue at Rhys, like he was disappointed in him" and start back up again at "As soon as the man let go of him"
> 
> [talk to me on twitter](https://twitter.com/Sasspiria)

Rhys was having the time of his life – Jack had woken him up that morning and announced that there was a carnival coming through town and asked him if he wanted to go. Of course, he had said yes, even though he was a little nervous and he had never been to a festival or a carnival before. He wanted to experience new things with his soul mate – so he swallowed any residual anxieties that he had and went along with the older mans’ whims. So far it was going well and Rhys was – shockingly – having a great time with his soul mate.

The two of them had gone on the shoddily constructed Ferris Wheel – Rhys had held on tight to him the entire time, his heart pumping with a heady mixture of fear and excitement. Rhys had such a good time that, when they were let off, he begged Jack to let them go on again and they did. After that, the two of them had wandered through the busy and crowded area to a fun house like attraction.

“What are we gonna do now?” He asked and Jack pointed towards the fun house and told him that they should go in there. Rhys squeezed his hand tightly as the two of them walked to quell the nervous tension in his body. “What’s in there?” He asked.

“You’ll see, baby.” Jack replied vaguely, with an easy grin spread across his face. He looked at Rhys, dressing the younger man down with his gaze. “You trust me, right?” He asked, speaking in a low voice. An embarrassed blush spread across Rhys’ cheeks.

“Of course I trust you…” He replied with a meekness in his voice and posture. “I trust you more than anything or anyone.” He added, even more meekly. Jack threw his arm over Rhys’ shoulder and pulled him close before he pressed a kiss to the younger man’s cheek.

“Then come along.” Jack replied, ushering Rhys forward with him as the walked into the fun house. It seemed to be miraculous that he knew exactly how to wind his way through the maze of glass walls and paintings. The maze seemed to go on forever – they winded and turned and wandered all along the paths. Then he found himself in a small room alone with the older man.

The room was mostly bare of decorations or paintings or anything that he had seen so far. There was a table on one side and a chaise lounge in the middle of the room. Jack led him to the lounge and sat Rhys down on it. He sat down next to Rhys and took his face in his hands. “You’re fucking delightful, Rhysie, you’re perfect.” He cooed.

“No ‘m not-” Rhys started to say, but he was almost instantly cut off by the older man.

“Yes,” He argued back, in a firm but patient tone. “Yes, you are.” He said. “You’re amazing, baby, you’re perfect. I love you-” Rhys’ heart slammed against his throat when he said that, his face lit up with a joyous expression and he was enraptured as he listened to the older man say his peace. Jack noticed and chuckled, “I love you, baby, you’re the light of my goddamn life Rhysie.”

Then Jack pulled forward and kissed him passionately. The two of them huddled close together, Rhys sliding into his lap as they kissed. Rhys made a sound of distress when Jack pulled away from the kiss. He caressed his cheek gently to sooth him. “Close your eyes for me, princess.” Jack directed him gently, “I’ve got a surprise for you.” He added as Rhys did as he was told. Rhys kept them closed for a few minutes, at least, but when his patience inevitably ran out he opened them once again – only to find himself alone. Rhys looked around the room with confusion as to where he went.

“Jack?” Rhys questioned, but the older man was so nowhere to be found. He sighed and shook his head a little bit. “C’mon, please… This isn’t… this isn’t funny, Jack. Where did you go?” He asked, spinning around in place as he tried to seek Jack out. Then, suddenly… he wasn’t at a carnival anymore. He wasn’t with Jack, enjoying a peaceful day out with his soul mate. He realized that he had no control of his body a second later, as it began to move without his permission – forcing him to play out a horrid memory from his past.

Rhys was walking through the compound, coming back after a long day of cooking and cleaning for various people with too little time on their hands and too much money. All he wanted to do was eat his paltry supper and burrow away in his bunk for the night. He wasn’t permitted to do that, though, because instead he was pulled aside by one of the adults that was in charge of “caring” for him and the rest of the kids and teens living in the compound with him.

His name was David, Rhys remembered, and he smiled a little too much and his touch would always linger a little too long. Rhys did not like him.“Rhys!” David snapped at him, smiling jovially like they were old friends. His hand clapped down on Rhys’ shoulder – hard and the young man winced at the contact. “There’s someone who wants to see you.” He said, “Someone important.” He added, his tone suddenly shifting to something much more severe. “Make sure to make him happy.” He warned in a cryptic manner, before he sent Rhys on his way – pointing him in the direction of one of the cabins in the middle of the compound, where he knew the adults that were in charge usually presided.

Rhys tried to keep his mind calmed and clear as he walked, but he couldn’t help but have the last words that David said to him echo throughout his mind on repeat. “Make sure to keep him happy. Make sure to keep him happy. Make sure to keep him happy.” Those words stuck with him and more importantly they haunted him, filling him with a sense of dread throughout the short trip.

Once he arrived at the cabin he had been directed towards, there was a well dressed man that was much older than him standing in the middle of the cabin. He smiled down at Rhys and gestured him forward. After a moment or two, Rhys took a few steps forward, until he was only a foot away from the older man. “Rhys right?” He asked, and then once Rhys shyly nodded his smile widened. “Ah, good. I’ve brought you a gift.” He handed Rhys a mid-sized, well wrapped box.

Rhys looked down at the box with an indiscernible expression. He opened the box, peering at its contents – inside the box was a silk blue shirt, soft looking cotton underwear and stiff straight looking black pants that were surprisingly soft to the touch. It occurred to him that this was the first time that anyone had ever given him anything as a gift before. At least as far back as he could remember, he looked the clothes over in a curious manner.

The only thing that he really knew about the clothes was that they looked expensive. That they were incredibly expensive. And he had no doubt this kind of gift wouldn’t be given out freely. No – he would be made to do something to earn it. “Thank you.” Rhys said, forcing himself to smile at him very briefly before he was looking at the ground, waiting to be dismissed or asked to do some chores. That was usually how things went for him. So why would he expect this to be anything different? All he had to do, he reminded himself, is be patient and wait for the man to tell him to run along.

The man leaned down a bit, so that they were at level and he took Rhys’ chin in his hand. Rhys struggled not to snap at him or push him away, “How old are you, Rhys?” The man asked, putting extra emphasis on his name, like it was something important. He was looking at Rhys in a way that made him feel very uncomfortable. He didn’t like it, the way he was being looked at… it felt wrong to him, even though he didn’t quite no how to put his feelings for why it felt wrong into words. All he knew was that it made his skin crawl, being in close proximity to this man.

Rhys looked down at the ground and bit his lip, scuffing his shoe in the dirt to relieve the nervous tension that was spreading throughout his body. “Oh, um, ‘m fourteen.” He answered, biting his lip as soon as he did to stop himself from asking the man to please stop looking at him like that.

The man’s expression changed, very subtly, to one of interest. “Why don’t you try it on?” He said, it was phrased like a question, but Rhys could tell that it wasn’t really a request. The older mans’ expression was mostly impassive, but there was some kind of hunger in his eyes. It was revolting.

Rhys huffed quietly, “Um, I can – maybe if you turn around?” He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest in an effort to calm his frazzled nerves. It didn’t work, but at least it managed to stop him from running out of the room. He didn’t turn around, just fixed Rhys with that same impassive look.

He clucked his tongue at Rhys, like he was disappointed in him. “Aw, come on… you don’t need to be shy.” He said in a cloying manner. “We’re both men here, aren’t we? It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” He looked Rhys up and down, scrutinizing Rhys in a way that made him want to close in on himself and he crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at his feet.

“I…I don’t _want_ -” He started to say, taking a few steps away from the man. In one fell swoop, Rhys was grabbed and pressed against the wall. Rhys squirmed and cried out in terror, as his clothes were forcefully pulled off of him, tearing in places and a few buttons popped off of the shirt that he was wearing. It was so fast, one moment he was standing there fully dressed and in the next he was practically naked and forced to be bare in front of the older man.

He had hoped that the man assaulting him would let him go once he had humiliating him like this, but he didn’t. He kept holding tight onto him – with one of his hands squeezing the back of his neck almost tight enough to cut off his airflow. The man started to… touch him. In ways that he didn’t want or like, ways that filled him with nausea and disgust. Rhys squeezed his eyes shut and put forth tremendous effort to block out any and all sensations that he could.

He didn’t want to be present and experience this. He forced himself to drift off towards a fantasy realm – a world where he was happy and safe and no one was allowed to hurt him or touch him in any way that he didn’t want. He didn’t let him go for a long time, it felt like hours and days had dragged on where he was forced to allow this stranger to use and abuse his body for his own interests.

As soon as the man let go of him Rhys ran out of the room, his clothes torn and tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, he couldn’t do anything other than run out the door and find a safe place to hide in until he could bury the memory somewhere deep and hope that he wouldn’t need to confront it again. All he could do was hope that this was just a one time thing, that he wouldn’t be treated like that without his consent ever again.

He wasn’t naive enough to believe that his hopes would be vindicated, no, somewhere deep inside of him he knew that this was just a taste of what was to come and there was nothing he could do to stop the monsters that had been exploiting him since he was old enough to count to take and take and take whatever scraps that were left of him – until nothing was left, until he was little more than a husk sleepwalking through the rest of his short and _miserable_ life.

* * *

Rhys thrashed around on his bed, kicking and screaming in panic as he tried to fight off an invisible enemy – one that only he could see, at least. Jack was quick to come to his side and try to sooth the younger man. Jack pulled his partner into his arms and gently shushed and spoke to him calmly as Rhys cried, hyperventilated and worked out all of his anxieties and fears.

“I can’t – I can’t do it again! I can’t go back!” Rhys said in a panicked, teary voice. He shook his head and trembled as sobs racked his slender frame. “It’s not fair you were supposed to be- you were supposed to save me from all of this!” He was hysterical and miserable. It became clear to Jack that he was still floating between reality and the nightmares that he had.

“I know.” Jack cooed to him, petting his hair gently as he spoke to the younger man. “I know, baby, I know. It’s just me. You’re safe.” He said, in a patient and gentle tone of voice – one meant to sooth and coddle the younger man’s overwhelmed nerves. Rhys kept on thrashing and whining in the older man’s arms – he was terrified – but Jack just held him tight and soothed him with sweet words.

Soon, he began to calm and he was more grounded in reality. He looked at his soulmate as if he was seeing him for the first time. “Jack!” Rhys exclaimed, his hands moved to the older man’s face and a smile stretched across his face. His eyes were wet with unshed tears. “It’s really you- I thought… I thought that you weren’t…” He let out a short sob. “I had the worst nightmare last night.” He said. “It just all seemed so real…” He added, in a tiny voice.

Rhys sat up and cuddled closer to Jack. “Yeah?” Jack hummed as he brushed away the younger mans’ tears. “You wanna tell me about it, pumpkin?” He asked, not fully expecting an answer from him. He still looked so shaken up and frightened. It felt like a giant step back from where they were, even last night and it worried Jack to see his soulmate looking so tiny and fragile when he had acted so strong up until this point. “I’m all ears.” He added, as if to tempt the younger man into spilling his secrets.

Rhys nodded mutely and took a calming breath as he collected his thoughts. He relayed everything that had happened in the nightmare in great detail, despite his persistent anxieties that Jack would hear some horrid detail about his past and think he was disgusting and untouchable, after that he had done and been made to do over the years. His biggest fear was that his soul mate would mirror all of the things that he secretly believed about himself – that he was repulsive, stupid and ugly, that he was unworthy of love and not even his soul mate would want him now.

Jack leaned back as he listened to Rhys timidly explain himself and all of his fears to his soul mate. When Rhys finished speaking he trained his eyes towards his hands, in a nervous gesture. Jack didn’t like that and he moved forward and took the younger man’s chin in his hand and turned it towards him so that Rhys would look him in the eye.

The younger man was trembling in Jack’s hands, whining softly and clinging to him desperately in the hopes that he would have all the answers. The words quickly tumbled out of his mouth so quickly that Jack could barely comprehend anything that he was saying. After a few minutes he decided to put a stop to it. “Rhys, be here for me.” Jack started, his tone incredibly firm before it eased into something softer and more sweet, as soon as Rhys looked at him with that frightened, vulnerable look that never failed to break Jack’s heart when he saw it.

“I’m so scared.” Rhys admitted quietly, closing in on himself – with his knees pressed to his chest. “My mind keeps going back to everything that happened and I-” He paused and let out a sob. “What if they find me? What if they take me back? I can’t go back.” His despondent feelings were palpable and obvious, in his body language and his tone of voice. “I’d rather die than go back there.”

Jack was quick to comfort him, “No one’s gonna hurt you, Rhysie, I promise.” He pledged. “I won’t let anyone, ever, hurt you.” He spoke seriously, firmly so Rhys could understand – even under the fog of his fears and anxieties – how sincere he was about this promise. Rhys believed that Jack would do everything in his power to protect the younger man from any harm but he feared that it wouldn’t be enough.

What if they were looking for him? What if they wanted revenge? What if they found him at his home? What if there was more of them than Jack could take on? What if they caught him off guard? What if he tried to fight but they overpowered him? What if they killed him? What if they killed Jack? These kinds of questions kept him up at night, turned his dreams into nightmares and kept him constantly on the edge of panic and ruin. He didn’t feel safe and he wasn’t sure if he ever would feel safe again.

Rhys huddled in even closer to his soul mate and pressed himself against his chest, “They can’t take me back,” He mumbled, his voice was slightly muffled but Jack could hear him loud and clear. “Please don’t let them take me back.” He said that even quieter and, after the words came out of his mouth he immediately felt regret for them.

He didn’t think he had the right to ask for that – no when he had asked so much of Jack already – but he did anyway. He bit his lip, dragging his teeth painfully against the sensitive flesh – hard enough to draw blood. He didn’t think that he had the right to ask Jack for…anything. Never mind protection from the people that had terrorized him his entire life. In Rhys’ mind, he didn’t deserve any of the kindnesses that Jack had afforded him.

No, he deserved nothing because he was just this terrible person that couldn’t do anything good for anyone. All he was, all he ever would be was this rotten excuse for a--

“They won’t.” Jack said firmly, tearing Rhys out of his self hating internal monologue. He looked at Jack with an expression that mixed between doubting and hopeful. “We’ve been over this, I won’t let anyone hurt you, baby. If anyone tries to come for you, they’ll have to get through me first.” He said.

Rhys let out a shaky sigh and took a moment to calm himself and collect his disorganized thoughts before he finally willed himself to speak. His throat was aching and dry, every breath he took felt like a sharp gasp. “No, you don’t understand – that’s exactly what I’m worried about!” He explained, throwing his hands up in frustration. “What if they come here and find us?” He asked, his voice was incredibly tiny and it came out shaky – filled with soft whimpers and little hyperventilating gasps.

Jack understood then, why Rhys seemed to be so petrified. “Is that what you’re worried about?” He asked, pulling the younger man even closer to him. Rhys clung to him, relishing in the affection and warmth that his partner was always willing to offer him. “No one’s gonna hurt you, I won’t give anyone the chance to even think about hurting you. I’ll make sure of that.” He smiled in a

“How do you know that?” Rhys asked and then, with a mixture of anxiety and anger in his voice. “No. You don’t know that, Jack.” He said firmly, “These people, they’re really powerful. They have all this money, all these resources. Once they find out what happened when we met, if they haven’t already, it could be bad.” He explained. “Really bad.”

Jack pulled forward and took Rhys’ face in his hands. Rhys let out a quiet squeak at the sudden closeness between them, “I’m not gonna let anyone ever hurt you, baby.” He promised. “And I don’t care about how scary or powerful they might be, because I’m bigger and badder and even more mean.” He smiled in a devilish manner that made Rhys’ blush much more heated and intense. Jack kissed Rhys chastely on the lips, “Do,” He kissed him again, “You,” Then again, “Believe,” And again, “Me?” He pulled back and gently caressed his soul mates cheek. Rhys was blushing furiously at this point a giddy smile spread across his face. “Hm?”

Rhys let out a little giggle and Jack dove in for the kill, pressing short feather light kisses all over his face, neck and collarbones – leaving Rhys with a ticklish sensation all over his body. “Hmm?” Jack asked again, with an amused tone to his voice while the younger man tried his hardest to stifle his giggles. Rhys squirmed indelicately under his grip and he held on tighter onto the younger man, forcing him to stay in place under him as he continued to touch and kiss him. “You trust me, baby?”

“Yes, yes, I trust you!” Rhys finally responded, laughing and giggling while Jack kissed him over and over again. “I trust you, Jack, okay? Of course I trust you!” He exclaimed. Only then did Jack finally pull away from him and give Rhys some room to breathe and move around.

Rhys sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. “Feel better?” He asked, pushing Rhys to be here and be present with him – he didn’t want the younger man disappearing inside of his head again, he didn’t want to have to start this process of reassuring the younger man and bringing him to a safe place mentally, all over again.

Rhys looked over at the older man and smiled shyly. “Yeah.” He said as an embarrassed blush spread across his face. He could barely look Jack in the eye. “I um, thank you for helping me.” He said, “I know that it’s not… you shouldn’t have to deal with this.” He sounded ashamed of himself, his face bashful. Then he mumbled a few apologies, if only because he felt like he had to – he would feel too much like a burden otherwise.

Jack just waved him off dismissively. He gave Rhys a once over and moved towards where Rhys was curled up. He pulled Rhys into his arms and manhandled the younger man so that he was laying flat on his back underneath him. “Wha-” Rhys started to say, before Jack dove in and kissed him. Affection, Jack had come to find out, was the easiest way to calm Rhys down and bring him back to where he was. He planned to use that strategy with him as often as he could. Rhys just let out a soft, pleasant sigh as he was kissed and touched by his soul mate until he was practically a puddle underneath the older man. 

* * *

Rhys and Jack had barely gotten through breakfast when Gaige had barreled through the door – well, she had knocked a few times first before she burst in, but still – and announced that she was going to take Rhys out on the town today. “Opportunity is a great city, but you have to actually, you know go outside and check it out to see all its got to offer.” She pitched to him, practically as soon as she was through the threshold of his and Jack’s home.

Jack gave her a dirty look, as if to remind her to watch herself, but didn’t say anything. Gaige shrugged, not intimidated by the gesture. “Look, all I’m saying is you’ve been in town for a few weeks and you’re still holing yourself up in this admittedly nice house.”

Rhys was about halfway through a mid-sized stack of pancakes – Jack was a great cook and a bit of a breakfast aficionado, he had come to find out – when she started her pitch, so all he could get out in response to it was a, “Huh?” that was mostly muffled by the food that was in his mouth. He was still pretty tired from all the emotional havoc that his nightmares had been causing and he was running on very little sleep, so he looked to Jack for some clarification.

“She wants you to go out with her.” Jack explained, smiling in amusement behind his cup of coffee.

“Oh.” He exclaimed, and then as he fully processed what Jack and Gaige said, “…Oh.” He added, with visible distaste for the idea. “I just, I don’t know if I really should…” He said timidly. He wasn’t sure why he felt this way, but going out into the city filled him with anxiety and sense of dread. The crowds, all the strangers and all the overwhelming sensations. “It sounds like it might be too much.” He added, hoping that would be a good enough explanation.

Gaige shook her head at that and fixed him with a sympathetic sort of gaze. Gaige didn’t know about most of the things that Rhys had been through – she knew very little as Rhys hadn’t been forthcoming with details about his past to anyone other than Jack – but she could tell that he had been through a lot in his relatively short life and she tried to be accommodating of that. “We’ll do something low key, I promise.” She said. “You don’t need to worry, I got you.” She added, nudging him on the shoulder in a playful manner as she spoke.

Rhys smiled thinly at her in response to that. He was still somewhat unconvinced that it was even safe for him to venture out into the city or that it was even worth it for him to bother with it. Just the thought of it was anxiety inducing for him in a way that he doubted Jack or Gaige would be able to understand his anxieties. “I don’t…” He started to say, before he forced himself to swallow down his own fear. He could do this, he told himself. Or at the very least, he would have to learn to deal with it and maybe if he forced himself to, it would be easier for him to recover. “You know what? Yeah, let’s go.” He said.

Gaige beamed at him and Rhys mirrored her expression convincingly enough. He smiled nervously back at Jack as she pulled him to his feet. “Awesome!” She said, “I’ve got a lot of plans for today, you’re gonna _love_ it.” She promised. Rhys didn’t get a chance to finish breakfast before he was hauled out the door. Jack smiled at him and waved at him as he was dragged through the door.

* * *

While Rhys was practically dragged out for a day of mandatory fun with an overzealous teenager, Jack made preparations for his own day on the town. He liked to keep his habits quiet, for Rhys’ benefit because although the younger man knew what he liked to get up to – hunting, stalking and killing people that he believed were much better off dead – he knew that the younger man was conflicted about it. And he understood why – obviously it wasn’t an easy sell to convince someone that what he was doing was right.

He didn’t even know if Rhys could be convinced that what he was doing was right. Maybe he didn’t need to be, as long as he agreed to stay by his side and be with him for the rest of their days. He had never loved anyone like Rhys and he had only cared for a few people with anything close to the intensity that he cared for the younger man. He was already attached to his presence and he didn’t know what he would do if he left him.

So he didn’t let himself think about it, pushed even the possibility far from his mind and kept on moving. The man that he was seeking out today was a man by the name of Mark Shaffer – he had been researching the man comprehensively for the last few months and every little thing that he learned about him made him feel even more disgusted with him.

He was a killer, he was a rapist, he lied and stole, he hurt people in his own family, extorted people. Long story short – he was easy to hate and it was a simple moral choice, in Jack’s eyes, that he should be taken out from this plane of existence with vicious impunity. Jack followed him all day, keeping a safe enough distance that he wouldn’t be so easily noticed but close enough that he was able to watch him doing his daily routine, watching and scouting out the man to get a feel for his weaknesses and habits, all of his blind spots.

Wherever Shaffer went, Jack went. When he went to the little coffee shop on the main street, Jack went there too and hung around in the corner, when Shaffer went to the department store on the edge of town Jack followed him along and stayed an aisle or two behind him while he shopped, when he finally decided to go home and relax Jack followed him there to finally do the job and kill him.

Shaffer didn’t bother to lock the door when he walked into his little apartment. That was something that Jack had come to realize people were more prone to do than one would think. So, since the door was unlocked, it was easy for Jack to slip into his victims home.

The apartment that he lived in was absolutely filthy. There was food and garbage all over the floors, scattered pictures and broken frames scattered all over the walls, dust on each surface… it was like he liked to live in filth. Jack grimaced as he looked around and delicately made his way forward. He found his victim sitting nearly passed out on the floor, stinking of alcohol.

It was easy for Jack to maneuver himself closer to the man, he was so drunk and shambling. Shaffer only became alert once Jack was standing over him, a length of wire in his hands, ready to be coiled around his throat. “What the fuck-” Shaffer started to say, only to be mockingly shushed by Jack as he moved in on his victim. For a moment, Shaffer was just in shock that something like that could happen and it was only when Jacks’ wire and hands were inches from his throat did he try and defend himself from his attacker.

He reared up and tried to pry the wire from Jack’s hands, to no luck. Out of desperation he scrambled towards Jacks face and tried to hit him more than once. On the third try, one of the punches actually landed and Jack pulled back, his lip split. Jack growled in a feral sort of way, rage spiking at the thought that he could even be somewhat off of his game.

He pulled out a switchblade from his back pocket and brought it out. Shaffer’s eyes widened and he immediately threw himself into apologetics. “Wait, you don’t have to do this!” He pleaded, but Jack wasn’t listening, he was too angry and eager to get this over with to negotiate with a man he had already deemed unworthy. Shaffer held his arms out in front of him, probably to block out his neck. So that was where Jack decided to strike first. By the time that Shaffer had dropped his arms, they were covered in gashes from his elbow to his wrist.

Jack kicked him in the shins multiple times and Shaffer dropped down on his knees, the pain too much for him to even bear standing. Once he was weak and pitiful, sitting prostrate like he was, all Jack had to do was kick him over so that he was laying on his back and Jack choke – no – strangled the life out of him with the wire in his hands like he had intended to. He stared into his victim’s face with a confusing and a bit sick sort of pleasure as he watched the life drain from his eyes.

Jack chuckled as he moved down, looking at the lifeless man underneath him. He grabbed his hand and pantomimed a wave. “This was fun, nice knowing you dick weasel.” He said. After he allowed himself a victory lap, he got up and looked around the filthy apartment and at the mess of a human being below him. He sighed, he would have a lot of work to do, getting rid of him.

* * *

It was incredibly late when Jack came back home – the thrill of the kill still present in his mind, it really got the blood pumping and his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it loud and clear, even over the bustle of the city outside. He expected Rhys to be asleep, curled up in their bed so he could wrap his arms around the younger man and lay with him until his partners presence soothed him, like it somehow always managed to.

He was surprised to find the young man sitting in the kitchen, mostly in the dark, with a hot cup of tea in his shaking hands. Rhys turned his attention towards Jack and the older man noted the tear tracks streaming down his cheeks. “Hey.” He said, in a gentle tone, as if he was worried that – if he spoke too sternly – he would shatter Rhys and he’d break into a million little pieces.

Rhys let out a soft laugh, one more born out of anxiety than genuine comfort or humor. “Hi.” He greeted in kind, his voice wet and rough from all the crying that he had been doing all day.

“Oh. What, this?” Jack gestured towards his split lip, “Eh, don’t worry about it. You should see the other guy.”

“Oh…” Rhys replied.

“Yeah.”

Rhys went back to staring down at his hands then, “Well, h-how was y-your…” He swallowed painfully, looked down at his hands again. “Um… I don’t know… whatever you did while I was out?” He asked in an unsure, far off tone of voice. “What did you do?” He asked.

Jack’s mind briefly wandered to the blood that had been on his hands until recently, the feel of the blade in his hands, the screams of a victim that he had deemed worthy of righteous execution. He smiled to himself for a moment before he regarded Rhys. “I took care of business and I had a hell of a good time while I was doing it.” He answered vaguely as he made his way to sit next to the younger man. “How about you? Did you have fun with Gaige today?” He asked, his hand snaking forward to squeeze Rhys’ hand in a comforting sort of way.

Rhys was looking shaky and distant, fear and sorrow present in his eyes and when Jack touched him, his gaze snapped towards Jack and he eyed him warily. He opened his mouth and closed it again before he let out a quiet whimper and closed in on himself instinctively. Then he went quiet, his thoughts too chaotic and racing for him to voice… anything.

It took him a few minutes for him to be able to even speak again. “It was nice, for a while at least.” He said. “We didn’t stay out for long.” Rhys explained in a somewhat timid sort of way. “It wasn’t that bad, I just started to get tired after a few hours and I wanted to go home.” He shrugged, “But…” He trailed off, his fingers drummed nervously against the mug in his hands, incidentally making a musical, twinkling noise with each and every little tap against the ceramic cup in his hands.

“But…” Jack urged him on gently, leading the younger man to answer. Rhys let out a short scoff as he regarded his soul mate, Jack had an expectant expression on his face. He smiled, almost in a secretive manner, before he decided to answer.

He let out a sigh and leaned back, “When I came home, I was so tired, I immediately locked the door and went back to sleep.” He explained, his tone deadpan and matter of fact, Jack chuckled and he continued on, “I was out-” He snapped his fingers, “Like a light, in minutes. I had this dream, you know? Last night. I had this dream, I don’t think I told you about it but I, uh… It was you and me and we were together on a date. We were having a good time and then…” he trailed off, his eyes were wet and he looked terribly anxious, tears streaming down his face.

“Go on.” Jack mumbled, stroking Rhys’ cheek. He gently wiped the younger mans tears away. “I’m listening.” He promised.

Rhys nodded shortly, “…I was back in my childhood and I was being forced to live through every terrible thing that I’ve gone through in my past.” He replied, with a wetness in his voice like he was choking back sobs. “I was really there, it felt so real. I was so, so… scared and angry, I felt so fucking helpless.” He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a rough sob. His expression turned then, “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He said, a hard edge in his voice, showcasing his anger and bitterness towards his past.

Jack pulled forward and grabbed Rhys’ hand, squeezed it gently. The gesture pulled Rhys out of the emotional black hole that he was in and grounded him a bit. “Then what do you want?” He asked, his voice flat and patient. Rhys’ mouth opened and closed as he tried to come up with the answer for that. What did he want? The thought just wracked his brain and he came up with mixed and muddled answers.

It took him a few moments to find his voice again, “I don’t know,” He said honestly, throwing his hands up in frustration. Then, in one fell swoop Jack pulled him to his feet and wrapped his around him and picked him up. He started to protest in shock, “Jack! What are you-” only to be cut off by the older man kissing him firmly on the lips.

He hefted Rhys up over his shoulder and carried him off, “I think I know what you want.” He said, a smugness hidden in his tone as he walked back to their bedroom. Once they were there, he lay Rhys down on their bed and moved over him with a devious grin on his face.

“Y-yeah?” Rhys replied, a blush spreading across his face. “What do you think I want, then?” He asked, an almost accidental smile spread across his face. There was a warmth in his aura, his face was alight with pleasure to be in the company of his soul mate again.

“Yeah.” Jack replied as he leaned down to kiss the younger man again. “I think you want to forget, I think you want to feel safe and protected and I think you want me to help you help yourself.” He guessed. “Did I get all that right?” He asked, a bit of a facetious edge in his tone.

Rhys fixed Jack a scrutinizing look before he answered, “Yeah, that’s pretty spot on.” He said and then swallowed involuntarily. Then he shakily nodded, building up his resolve so that he felt strong enough to lean up and kiss the older man. After he pulled away, Jack immediately moved towards the younger man’s bared throat, kissing and biting all over the sensitive flesh without much restraint.

He kept up the assault on the younger man’s neck until Rhys was mewling and whining from all the attention he was receiving. When he pulled back he had an absolutely wicked and hungry expression on his face. “Jack?” Rhys exclaimed, looking at the man with just a hint of wariness – though he really couldn’t be sure why.

“Just lemme take care of you, now.” Was Jack’s only response before he returned his attentions to the younger man’s body. And, to his own surprise, Rhys did. He trusted Jack to take care of him and make him feel good, he trusted Jack to make him forget like he was promised to and Jack made good on that promise.


	5. Chapter 5

Rhys danced around the penthouse while high energy pop music played, loud enough to blot out any outside noise, in his headphones. He had woken up that moment – for the first time in weeks, with no nightmares and no worries. So that morning he had gotten up early and decided to make him and Jack a nice breakfast. In the past, he had had a lot of experience working in domestic services.

As a child, before they had started giving him more… mature work, he had worked in kitchens and as a janitor a lot. So because of all of that, despite all of the pain that it had caused him, he knew how to cook and clean with all of the talent and precision of a professional. Those sort of skills would, he was sure, come in handy. Especially seeing as how he was so desperate to make himself useful with Jack, on certain days, he felt a bit like he was a burden to his soul mate so he tried to help him out in whatever way that he could, whenever he had the chance to. Making him breakfast on the rare mornings where Jack decided to sleep in was the least that he could do.

The song ended on a low note and Rhys pulled the headphones out of his ear and pocketed them, before turning his full attention to scooping out the eggs from the pan and doling them out onto a plate, doing the same with the bacon. “Okay…” He said to himself, “Now there’s just-” Rhys was brought out of his thoughts and musings as Jack let out a low whistle.

“You look so cute in that little apron.” The older man commented as he took in the younger mans’ appearance. “Makes you look even more pretty than you usually do.” He praised, his voice low and appreciative.

Rhys turned towards the older man and smiled nervously, “Good morning.” He greeted, “I didn’t wake you up or anything, right?” He asked, a worried edge taking to his voice.

Jack shook his head at that. “Nah, I slept great actually.” He replied, “But I woke up and you weren’t there, so I decided to seek you out.” Rhys smiled shyly at that as Jack continued on, “Smells good, looks good too.” Jack commented as he took a look around the kitchen and island. Rhys had already set out a pitcher of orange juice, two glasses and plates with silverware for them with food piled on top of them. “So far at least. What all are you making for us?” He asked, leaning against the island with a lazy grin spread across his face. Jack looked tired, it was obvious that he had just woken up in the last few minutes.

“Uh, I’ve got muffins in the oven, I’m making some bacon and eggs and pancakes.” He said and a blush spread across his face. “I like to have a little of a lot.” He explained, with a bashful expression and nervous rounded shoulders. He turned around and went back to flipping the pancakes with a small smile on his face. “And, you know, you do so much for me all of the time, so I thought that I should return the favor.” He explained.

Jack shook his head at that, “You don’t need to do anything like that.” He said, his words punctuated by the egg timer going off to alert them that the muffins were done. Jack circumvented Rhys before he could grab the oven mitts. He pulled the muffins out and lay the tray on the counter.

“I wanted to.” Rhys corrected, a bit of a huff punctuating the end of his sentence as he set out the pancakes, before turning the stove and oven off. “You always take care of me, you do so much for me all of the time.” He blushed and smiled in a delighted sort of fashion. “The least that I can do is make you a big breakfast.”

Jack shrugged, taking one of the muffins. “If you say so.” He said, as he took a bite out of it. “S’not like it bothers me much.” He said, “Especially when you look so cute, shimmying around in the kitchen like that.” He added, his voice smug and celebratory, full of adoration for the younger man. Rhys rolled his eyes at that and sat himself down to eat, obstinately ignoring all of the older mans’ teasing and prodding. At least until their meal was over, if only because he couldn’t ignore him forever.

And ignoring Jack’s antics became an impossibility sometimes. Jack was… affectionate, incredibly affectionate and almost always the way that he showed his affection was physical. He liked to kiss Rhys, he liked to touch Rhys, he liked to squeeze the younger man’s shoulder or hip and grab his hand while they were walking. In a way, it was really nice – it made him feel loved and wanted. In another way all of that affection – all those lingering touches and short, sweet kisses – made him wonder if Jack wanted more out of him. More than Rhys was sure he was able to give freely.

Rhys had a complicated relationship with his own body and his own relationship to it. For nearly all of his life, he had had an alien relationship to it – he had hated it and hated the way people treated him for it, wished that he was invisible whenever someone so much as looked at him for years. He hadn’t been with Jack for very long, only about six months or so, but he had been slowly and surely unlearning all of the knee-jerk reactions that he felt whenever he thought that Jack’s ideas about him had turned sexual.

The ironic thing about all of that was that Rhys was sure that if he asked the older man if he was bothering him by being so withholding, Jack would probably laugh and tell him, “Rhysie, I’m not a fucking teenager. I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, so don’t you worry your pretty little head about anything like that.” Or something strangely endearing like that.

Rationally, he knew that he had nothing to worry about when it came to his soul mate. Still, Rhys couldn’t help it most of the time. All of the anxiety and worry that he had buried deep inside of himself threatened to jump up out of him at the worst possible times. Lately though, that anxiety had been dimming down and he wanted to see how far he could go with his soul mate while he felt so consistently safe and while he was so emotionally level.

So, that afternoon when Jack came home to have his lunch, Rhys had practically jumped the older man and laid a barrage of kisses and gentle squeezes. By the time that Rhys let go of the older man, Jack’s hair was in a disheveled state and his jacket had nearly been torn off of him. Jack grabbed Rhys by the shoulders and squeezed them gently, “What’s gotten into you, princess?” Jack asked, looking quizzically at the younger man. “Not that I didn’t like it! But still, it was a fucking shock.”

Rhys smiled coyly, “I um, I wanted to go a little further with you. I wanted you.” He said, “But I didn’t really have the words to say it,” He smiled shyly, like he hadn’t just torn Jack’s jacket off moments prior. “Actions speak louder than words, you know?”

“Oh.” Jack exclaimed in surprise, he hadn’t expected something like this to happen. Not for a while at least, Rhys was generally skittish about these sort of things, so Jack had been more than happy to wait for him. “You’re ready?” He replied warily and Rhys nodded his assent. A grin spread across Jack’s face and he put Rhys’ face in his hands. “Alright… if you’re sure that you’re ready.” He agreed and dove in to kiss Rhys once again, even more fervently and passionately than before.

By the time that Rhys and Jack pulled away from each other, they were both panting and disheveled and neither of them would even entertain the idea of letting the other go until Jack manhandled Rhys so that he was sitting on the counter. Then he finally let him go, admittedly he let him go very reluctantly, but he did let him go, even though Rhys protested it.

He gave Rhys one more reassuring kiss, “I’ll be right back, I just gotta get something for us.” He promised. Rhys let out a depressed sigh, like he was being asked to perform an incredibly arduous task and he was incredibly burdened by it.

“Okay…” Rhys grumbled, his tone grim and dismal. “Fiiiine, but be quick about it. Please.” He whined.

Jack chuckled at that, “Whatever you say, kitten.” He hummed back, before leaning in close to kiss the younger man on the nose. “Now you stay right there and don’t you dare move a muscle.” He warned, but his tone was light-hearted and gentle. Rhys frowned but did as he was told. Jack did as he promised and he was back in front of the younger man in moments.

“So what was so important that you needed too-” Rhys cut himself off as Jack showed him a small bottle and packet of condoms. “Oh, right. Those are…those are pretty important, aren’t they?” He said, giggling a bit in his nervousness as he spoke.

“Yeah, that’s right Rhysie – those are very important.” He teased with a chuckle punctuating the end of his statement, before diving in to kiss the younger man hard, claiming his lips possessively as his own. Rhys wrapped his arms around the older man’s neck and leaned into him as they kissed and groped each other, stripping each other of their clothes with a messy sort of desperation.

“Lemme turn you over.” Jack murmured in his ear, before pressing kisses all over his cheek and down the slope of his neck. “You okay with that, Rhysie?” He added in an even gentler, lower voice to make sure that Rhys was comfortable. Rhys nodded hastily, quiet moans tumbling out of his mouth as Jack kept kissing him and soothing his big hands all over Rhys’ body in such a way that Rhys found himself turning into a puddle in the older mans’ arms.

Jack moved the younger mans’ body so that he was laying on his stomach, with one of his legs poised up so that they were spread out nice and wide. Jack grabbed Rhys’ ass and spread them out, exposing his hole for him to see. “You’re so fucking pretty baby. All pale skin, long legs and that pretty, pretty face of yours…” Jack cooed, “You are just pretty all over. Aren’t you?” He cooed again and then leaned in to press a few kisses, starting between his shoulder blades and down the gentle slope of his back.

Rhys whined when he stopped paying attention to him with kisses and soft touches. Jack smiled and patted the younger man’s thigh. Then, he moved back a bit and grabbed the bottle of lube, pouring some of it into his hands before he started smearing it all over his hands. His fingers circled around the rim of his hole, until he was relaxed, sighing quietly in pleasure with a few mutters of the older mans’ name tumbling out of him without his own permission to do so.

Rhys let out a quiet moan as Jack nudged one of his fingers’ inside of the younger man and slowly fucked it inside of him, so slow that he may as well have been teasing him. He kept that painfully gentle rhythm up until Rhys started bucking back onto him, silently asking him for more and more and more. Jack was eager to please and nudged another finger inside of him.

He scissored the two digits inside of the younger man, fucking him with them in a slow and deep rhythm. He consistently stroked and pressed his fingers against Rhys’ prostate as he did so. It wasn’t until Rhys’ legs were trembling and his cock was hard and leaking while he mindlessly rutted against the counter to get some relief that Jack pulled his fingers out of Rhys. The younger man whined at the loss, which made him smile. Jack leaned in close, so that his lips were near Rhys’ ear. “You ready for me, baby?” He asked, his voice low and gentle. Sweet, in a way that was oddly fitting for what he was doing to Rhys. The reverence that Jack treated him with right then had butterflies blossoming in his stomach.

“Y-yeah…” Rhys replied, his voice high and breathy. “Yes, yes. I’m ready… please, please, please, fuck me. Jack please, I’m ready for you it’s okay.” He pleaded in a babbling and desperate sort of way and then tilted his head towards Jack, so he could fix him with big, pleading eyes. Rhys’ disheveled appearance painted a pretty, wanton picture and Jack only wanted to press him further into a more desperate and sex filled, mindless state.

Jack chuckled and leaned back, stroking his own cock in a low and leisurely motion as he looked down at the younger man spread out like a four course meal before him. He took a step back and admired Rhys’ body, his eyes raking over his younger partner with interest and lust heavy in his gaze and in his body language. He rolled a condom on and spread lube over his cock. Then he moved forward and grabbed Rhys’ hip, holding onto it as leverage as he thrust inside of him. He thrust in and out of Rhys, one hand braced around the back of his neck as he built up speed and power inside of him. Pretty soon, Jack was fucking him so hard that a groan was being forced out of Rhys with each thrust that Jack gave him.

Suddenly, Jack pulled out and turned Rhys over. “I want to see you.” He whispered in his ear as he thrust his cock deep, back inside of him in one thrust. “Let me see your pretty face, Rhysie.” He growled lowly. At his order, Rhys turned his head towards the older man and looked at him with bleary and vulnerable eyes. “Yeah… that’s right.” He said, leering as he watched Rhys grab his own cock and slowly stroke himself, his mouth slack and open as he moaned and whined wordlessly.

He grabbed and lifted Rhys thighs, then he held them wide and open, so he was basically spread eagle and speared on his cock. Rhys kept slowly stroking his own cock as Jack held onto him possessively and fucked him, his thrusts landing hard and deep inside of the younger man, occasionally pausing to kiss him on his open mouth, tongue swiping over his lower lip whenever pulled away. Jack came with a groan, moments after Rhys came all over his own chest and stomach.

Jack dropped Rhys legs and practically collapsed on top of him. Rhys held onto him tight and wrapped his legs around the older man’s hips – trapping the two of them close together while they both came down from the high of their orgasms. They pet and kissed each other, gently and lovingly looking in each others eyes. After a few minutes, the two of them finally separated. Jack huffed quietly and pulled out of Rhys. He cleaned himself up a bit and got rid of the condom before he returned back to Rhys. “You good, princess?” He asked, just to make sure.

“Y-yeah.” Rhys said in a dazed sort of way. Then he covered his mouth to stifle a laugh as he looked around the kitchen, at all the plates that had been knocked on the floor, some of them broken. “We should clean this up.” Rhys commented before he scooted off of the counter. His legs were so shaky that he nearly collapsed onto the floor and he would have, if Jack hadn’t been quick enough to catch and scoop him up into his arms.

“Nah, let’s just forget about it for now.” Jack replied, a self-assured expression spread across his face. “It can wait.” He gently pushed Rhys down and kissed him once again. Rhys settled back and let himself enjoy the ride as Jack slowly and gently ravished him again and again.

* * *

When Rhys met Vaughn, the two of them had instantly clicked. The two of them had quickly become close friends – the type of friends that developed these quirky little in jokes and drove everyone around them absolutely insane with their unintelligible banter. Once the two of them collided into each others’ orbit, they spent time with each other, at least three or four times a week and Vaughn – who worked for Hyperion, so he worked for Jack – found himself spending an insane amount of time in the CEO’s penthouse.

Jack had found that a little annoying that, in his mind, some weird little nerd had swept Rhys off of his feet and was now the center of his attention. Though jealousy was, maybe, a more fitting phrase for what he felt about Vaughn’s friendship to Rhys. And by extension, he felt a bit of that jealousy – and a whole lot of envy – towards a lot of the people that Rhys made friends with.

Because Rhys was so nice to nearly every person that he met and he was always so friendly with them, once he got over his initial shyness, he made friends easily and people tended to like him. He was a bit naive about people, if people were nice to him – or even if they just treated him like a human being, something that he had been denied for nearly all of his life – then he would be sweet with them and treat them as though they were the closest of friends even when they’d just met.

Mostly, Jack wanted to protect him but a part of him – a part that was a lot bigger than he would openly take credit for – just wanted to keep Rhys all to himself. So when Rhys had announced to Jack that Vaughn had invited him out that morning, he had narrowed his eyes at the shorter man momentarily before nodding at Rhys and telling him to have fun.

It was nearly the middle of the afternoon by the time that Rhys and Vaughn had made their way into the mall. The building was huge, even larger than he would have thought that it was just looking at it from the outside. Rhys was delighted by it, as silly as it was. Eventually Vaughn decided to ask him why he seemed so starstruck and excited by, what he thought, was just a regular trip around the mall. Rhys turned to him and smiled, all teeth and sunshine in his eyes. “I don’t know I guess it’s just something new to me and I’m still getting used to it.” He explained. “I never really went to a mall in my old town.” Rhys admitted. “So, it’s new. Well, it’s new to me, at least.” He explained.

“You couldn’t even go to the mall?” Vaughn asked, “Jesus, what did you live on some kind of religious commune or something like that?” He added.

Rhys froze as he realized that he might have revealed a little too much to the other man, “Um, just… I don’t know.” He replied in a meek sort of way, “It was just like…really strict.” He said quickly coming up with a lie that he could tell Vaughn. “It was um, I lived in a-” He sighed and set his mouth in a thin line, “I lived in a foster home for nearly all of my childhood. But you’re right in a way. They were religious, it was a religious community and I wasn’t allowed to do much but go to school and stay at home doing chores.”

It was, in a sense, an adjacent version of what he had experienced growing up. Before he had hit adolescence, Rhys had lived in a big compound in the middle of nowhere. Every morning he – as well as all of the other kids that he had lived with – would be woken up at the crack of dawn and forced to dress in a work uniform, before he was dragged out into the back of a van to be taken to various jobs to do hard labor all day, until it was late and he was taken back to the compound. He had hated it there and not just that he had loathed living there. After that it was all skid row motels and being taken to parties to perform sexual favors on people twice or three times his age – doing things that made him miss living at the compound, as terrible as it had been on its own.

“That sounds awful.” Vaughn commented in a banal sort of way and Rhys nodded in agreement. “I dunno man, I pretty much grew up here in Sanctuary

Rhys cracked a grin at him, “I love the freedom here.” He said, “All the lights and…. Sleeping under the stars. All the people! It’s so beautiful here.” He spun around his hands up in the air, like he was praying to some god that Vaughn could never comprehend. “I uh, at first I was frightened because I’ve never been somewhere so big but now I feel perfectly at home.” He said, “Do you understand what I mean?” He asked, looking at the other with genuine, naive curiosity.

Vaughn shrugged, “Can’t say that I do.” He replied, “But I appreciate your enthusiasm.” He said, “But I dunno, for me, Sanctuary was just… the place I grew up in. For the longest time I hated living here.” He explained, “Especially when I was a kid.” He admitted.

“What? I don’t believe you. Why would you hate it! It’s so lovely here. Everyone is so nice here-” Rhys started to say, but he wasn’t allowed to finish his sentence as he was suddenly pushed aside with so much force that he crumbled into a heap of his own limbs on the linoleum floor below them. Rhys looked up at the man that had pushed him, ready to chew him out for being so rude. He was a tall and well built man – even taller than Rhys was – and cut an imposing figure.

“Watch where you’re going!” He snapped at Rhys. Rhys didn’t answer him immediately, his jaw was slack and a frightened expression was spread across his face – like he had met him before under disgusting and frightening circumstances. Deep inside of himself, Rhys knew that he knew this man and that he had met him before. Then suddenly, Rhys wasn’t on the floor of the shopping mall in Sanctuary and instead, he was small and cowering on a dirty floor while a much larger and older man geared towards him with intents to whip and abuse him.

He returned back to where he was and looked up as Vaughn moved to him, a gentle hand encircled around his wrist. “You okay?” He muttered to Rhys, looking at him with eyes full of concern for the other man. Rhys was hesitant at first, but eventually he nodded and muttered back that he was okay.

Rhys stood up and glared at the man, who was still standing there and looking smugly down his nose at Rhys. He was about to open his mouth to say something to him, the stranger stared him down with so much intensity that Rhys was instantly silenced and hissed at him, “You should learn to pay attention to what’s going on, you stupid whore.” Rhys blinked at him owlishly and the man nodded, “Yeah, I know what you are. I know where you come from.” He added, his voice low enough that only Rhys could hear him and sinister enough that the implications filled him with fear and dread.

Rhys frowned and gathered his courage, “What did you say?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at the man. The man looked at him, staring him down like he was nothing, like he was a bug to be crushed under his boot, for an incredibly long – so long that it felt to Rhys like years had gone by before he had even taken a breath – moment, before he shook his head and walked off. Rhys was perplexed about what had happened, a little shaken as well. He stood there, stock still, trying to comprehend everything that had happened just then.

“What was that all about?” Vaughn asked, looking back at the guy who had snapped at Rhys as he walked away. “That guy was…weird.” He commented. “And rude. I can’t believe he just pushed you like that! Anyway, are you alright?” He asked.

Rhys frowned, “Oh, I dunno…” He said, his voice shaky and nervous. He didn’t know how to explain to Vaughn what he felt. How could he explain to his friend that even though he had no evidence to back this up, he was sure that the guy who had just accosted him was a criminal who had done even worse to him in the past. He looked at Vaughn, who had this terribly worried expression on his face. Rhys had no idea how to say what he was thinking without coming across like a paranoid, unwell person.

So, with great effort, Rhys decided to acknowledge his anxiety but not focus too heavily on it, because he didn’t want to set himself into a panicking spiral in the middle of a shopping mall, while Vaughn kept looking at him in a worried fashion, because he hadn’t bothered to answer Vaughn in any meaningful capacity. “Are you sure that you’re okay?” Vaughn asked, placing a hand on Rhys’ shoulder. “You look a little… well, you don’t look good. You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He said, his voice heavy and laden with concern.

Rhys nodded, smiling tightly at the other man. “Y-yeah, I’m fine…” He assured quietly, “I’m just a little, I don’t know…” He trailed off and closed his eyes for a moment before he addressed Vaughn again, this time with a more convincingly happy aura to him. “You know what, yeah. I’m fine. Let’s go get some ice cream. My treat.” He offered, grabbing Vaughn’s arm and leading him along to the food court.

The two of them walked quickly to a local ice cream shoppe, where a bubbly looking woman happily – or so they would assume – asked what they wanted. “Uh, okay!” Rhys clapped his hands together as he looked over the menu. “So! I will have a chocolate sundae with some extra caramel on top – like the sauce? – you know what I mean. And my friend here wants some…” He turned to Vaughn, waiting for his answer.

“Uh, I’ll have something small and some water. Like some rainbow sherbet I guess.” Vaughn replied.

Rhys quirked a brow, “Seriously?” He asked, “C’mon man, that’s nothing. This is my treat. Or well, it’s Jack’s treat technically.” He smiled, “But that’s basically the same thing in practice.” He added in a teasing manner.

Vaughn smiled at him indulgently, but ultimately shook his head in dissent. “Nah, man, I can’t not even once. I don’t have the crazy fast metabolism that you do.” Vaughn replied and then with a somber look at one of the more ostentatious items on the menu, “It does all look really good though…”

Rhys shrugged, “Okay, well, if you say so. Fine.” He turned back to the woman behind the counter, “So, I will have a chocolate sundae with some extra caramel sauce and my friend here will have a small cup of sherbet ice cream and a bottle of water.” He said, tone dulling in exaggeration as he read out Vaughn’s portion of the order.

After that, the two of them walked out of the food court – food in their hands. Vaughn looked at the sundae that Rhys was eating with a mixture of confusion and amusement, “How you’re able to eat all of that crap without having to worry about gaining weight or working off will forever be a mystery to me.” He commented.

Rhys pressed his hand to his heart, “It’s the anxiety! Burns those calories right off like magic, I don’t even have to do anything. Not even a little exercise.” He chirped back, eliciting good-natured laughter out of Vaughn. “I’ve got the heartbeat of a rabbit, so.” He smiled at Vaughn in a serene sort of way. The two of them kept up wandering through the mall, enjoying each others’ company the whole time that they did.


	6. Chapter 6

By the time that the two of them decided to leave it was late outside and the sun had started to set. They made their way out of the building, happy to be going home, only to be stopped by a tall, pretty but imposing woman with bright red hair and intensely colored amber eyes. He could tell within moments

“Excuse me,” She said, her voice was clipped and no nonsense. “I might be mistaken… but are you, by any chance, Rhys Strongford?” She paid no mind at the way that Rhys cringed at his given name coming out of her mouth. “My name is Lilith Cashlin, I’m with the Sanctuary police department.” She added, for posterity.

“That’s…” Rhys replied, a little shell shock by her sudden intrusion coming right after he was just accosted, “Yep, that’s me.” He said, his voice tight and nervous. “Did you need anything from me or what…” He trailed off, looking at her in a wary sort of way. He was always nervous around strangers, but he was even more nervous around strangers that had guns on them. For obvious reasons.

“And you’ve lived with the Hyperion CEO, Jack Lawrence for the past year?” She pressed further. Rhys quietly wondered what would happen if he just decided to leave her be without answering any of her questions, but ultimately he decided that it was best if he just played along for now.

“Yeah, Jack is my partner. We live together and… yeah.” Rhys replied, still wary of her – maybe even more so than he had been before. It was a healthy sort of suspicion, but as far as he knew right then, he might have just been being paranoid about her. It wouldn’t be the first time. Still, he kept his posture defensive and maintained an arms length of distance from her at all times. “Why do you want to know, I mean, what do you want from me…now?” He asked, already exhausted by her.

“You don’t look like someone that would fall in with a billionaire just by accident.” She said bluntly and Rhys tried to not show his offense. “How exactly was it that you and Jack met?” She asked.

Rhys frowned at that and decided to tell the version of the events that he told everyone – it was close enough to the truth, but not so truthful that it would lead to either his or Jack’s arrests. “I was living on the streets in the middle of nowhere, I have no family, no friends either, it was a pretty bleak sort of existence – anyways. He found me out there and we got to talking with each other.” He smiled, genuinely, and his hand came to circle around the red lining on his wrist – marking him as Jack’s, for as long as the two of them would live.

He looked back up at her, “We found out that we are soul mates so he decided to get me out of there, I’ve been so happy with him. He treats me kinder than anyone ever has in my life.” His demeanor turned serene, like he had forgotten that she had come up to him to antagonize him and cause him and Jack some sort of problems. “He saved my life.”

“Nice guy.” She stated sarcastically a grim, facetious smile spread across her face as she said it. It was obvious to Rhys that whatever damage that she had with Jack, it was probably personal.

“Yeah.” Rhys pushed back, “He is nice and not just nice to me.” He added defensively, “He’s a good person.” He was already sure that he didn’t like her and that he wanted to be as far away from her as possible, but he felt trapped because he wasn’t sure what she had the authority to do to him if he tried to get away from her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Sure, whatever you say.” She said and then her tone turned no nonsense once again as she pressed him even harder, gearing up to interrogate him in the middle of broad daylight. “Well, you might be aware that there’s been murders popping up all over the county, maybe five or ten people brutally killed-” She pulled a face, a quietly distraught expression came across her.

“No-” Rhys started to say, agitation and a feeling of powerlessness growing within him. But Lilith continued on, ignoring him.

She spoke in a matter of fact sort of way, relaying all of the grisly public details like she knew them off the top of her head. “There’s not much of a connection, not in age sex or race demographics, the murders are all a little bit different…” She trailed off and then narrowed her eyes at Rhys, “Except for one thing. Each of the murders takes place in a township with Hyperion branches built there and it just so happens that Jack had been spotted in the townships on the same day of the murder, in the same area. Doesn’t that seem a little suspicious to you?” She asked, mostly rhetorically.

Rhys frowned, “No, I mean…Hyperion works there, right?” He said, “I dunno, it makes sense to me that he would happen to be there. And if I know Jack, and I do, he likes to be hands on with his workers.” He defended.

“Maybe,” She admitted. “Do you have any idea where your partner was on the date of the last murder?” She asked, before informing him of the date that they were sure that it had happened on. It hadn’t been very long since they discovered the body,

“I don’t… I don’t know! I don’t keep track of him twenty four seven!” He defended weakly, shrinking in front of her. “Why are you telling me about all these terrible things? What do you want from me?” He asked, not expecting her to answer him.

And, sure enough, she didn’t answer him so much as accuse him of another horrid crime, “You said that you lived in the middle of nowhere, did you happen to live near the Dust?” She asked.

“Maybe? I dunno.” He responded vaguely. “It was a while ago, I’d never left the neighborhood that I slept in before I came to sanctuary.” He shrugged.

She kept on going like he had said yes, “Did you hear about the massacre that took place in one of the motels?” She responded, “The Happy Pig motel. There were four dead and fifty apparent permanent residents missing. We assume they are also dead.” She added, for emphasis.

“I’m not sure, I didn’t get the chance to go around and check out the scenery. Like I said, I’m not sure if I was even in the area.” He hissed back, crossing his arms over his chest – closing himself off even further from her. “Besides, I had more important things to worry about than local news. Like being able to feed myself and find somewhere warm to sleep at night.” He added honestly.

“I thought that you lived on the streets in that town?” She countered coolly. “It was a pretty big story, all over the news. For weeks, at least.”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean I would have heard about it! And I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rhys said, his voice tight and nervous – full of justified anxiety and dread filled his entire being. “Please leave me alone.” He pleaded once again, his mouth set in a thin line. He didn’t like this woman and he didn’t trust her not to try and use him for her purposes. Maybe she had Jack as one of the prime suspects in one of her cases, Rhys realized with some horror. Or, even worse, maybe she was trying to get Jack arrested for all of the many, many crimes that he had committed over the course of his relatively short life.

Rhys did not want that – of course he didn’t want that. If she was trying to come after his soul mate… well, he didn’t know what he would do, or even what he could do about it, but he would do everything and anything that he had to to make sure that she didn’t succeed. Smear her name, ruin her reputation, hurt her… if he thought that it would stop her, even if he was ruined in mind, body and soul, then it would be more than worth the trouble that it took him.

Then Lilith decided to taken another, more gentle and friendly, approach. She sighed and took a step forward, dismissive of the way that Rhys instinctively took a step away from her like he was worried that she would hurt him. Given the gun holstered at her hip and the severe affect that she carried – an affect that said to Rhys that she had killed men for less – his worries were no unfounded in his eyes.

Lilith put her hands up in front of her, like she was trying to make peace with Rhys. “Look, Rhys, is it? I’m sure that you think that you think that you love Jack or whatever, but he doesn’t love you. He doesn’t love anyone, he’s incapable of it. He’s manipulating you-” She began to spiral into a rant about Jack, it was obvious to Rhys that she had some kind of personal vendetta against Jack for whatever reason. That didn’t bode well for Rhys.

Rhys looked affronted at that and he was internally seething that she could imply that Jack didn’t care about him. She was wrong and Rhys seriously loathed her in that moment. “Excuse me?” He snapped at her, “You don’t know anything about my relationship. Jack does love me! And I love him. He’s. My. Literal. Soul mate.” He sighed deeply, “Just please leave me alone, I don’t want to answer any more of your questions. And, and if you’re not gonna arrest me then…just go away.”

Lilith was about to say something else when Vaughn finally decided to intervene, though it was much too late in his own eyes as he had been horrified and fascinated by the sudden interrogation. “Look, just back the fuck off of him, okay?” Vaughn snapped, “He says that he doesn’t know anything and you can’t just question someone in the street like that. He didn’t do anything wrong!” He added, lashing out at the woman with only his words.

Lilith narrowed her eyes at Vaughn and she looked like she was about to strike out at him – or arrest him, whichever she thought she could get away with probably – when another man came forward and wrenched her back away from Rhys. Rhys didn’t even try to hide the relief that came over him when there was some distance between the two of them. The man was tall and well built like a soldier with a no nonsense expression spread across his face, his arms crossed in a disapproving manner.

His name was displayed clearly on the badge pressed tight against the vest of his uniform, that said: Officer Roland Bailey. At first, Rhys assumed that he would join in on the haranguing and instead turned towards his partner and dressed her down, which filled Rhys with relief. “Lilith! What the hell are you doing?” He snapped at her, “You can’t just run up and question people like that, no due process. What’s wrong with you?”

“He knows something! You know that he knows something, he has to with how close he’s been to Jack for the past year!” She defended herself weakly, “I’ve told you this, I don’t know how many times, all of these murders – the ones in Sanctuary, the ones in Opportunity, Promethea and all of those other towns have Hyperion bases – and Jack constantly visiting them, but especially around the time of the murders – in common.”

Roland looked like he had had it with that conversation. “Do you want to lose your job?” He warned, “Because the way that you’re going, I can’t stop that from happening.” Lilith went quiet then, but Rhys could tell that she was seething with impotent rage. Roland turned towards Rhys, “I’m sorry about this, she’s been on this case for months and lately she’s just been grasping at straws.” He shook his head, “There’s been a string of murders in the tri-state area, and probably even further out.

For some reason, she thinks that the CEO of Hyperion has something to do with it.” He waved his hand dismissively, “So when she saw you…Well, anyway, please don’t take this personally, she’s just on edge right now.” He said and then sighed, “Look, I’m sure that you know that Sanctuary has an agency that you can go to, to report any officer for corruption, harassment, anything like that. Please don’t report her this time, she means well.” He said and the undertone of what he said implied that Rhys would be doing him a favor if he didn’t report Lilith for what she had done.

Rhys shook his head, “It’s okay.” He replied, even though that was far from the truth. The opposite of the truth more like. He just wanted this all to be over and done with. “I don’t need to make a report or anything like that, I just really hope that she doesn’t do anything like that to me or to my… to Jack ever again. But I will report her if she does it again. To whatever agencies I have to, because I’m not going to tolerate being terrorized like that, when I did nothing wrong.” He stated firmly, knowing that what he and Jack wanted held weight in this city – Jack had practically built it with his own two hands.

Roland nodded, considering the circumstances he thought that Rhys was being more than reasonable towards Lilith, and he led her away from the two young men. As he walked away, Rhys heard the two of them quietly bickering among themselves about him. He kept his eyes on them, wary and nervous that for some reason they might circle back for him, until they were entirely out of sight. He let out a sigh of relief once they were gone.

Vaughn gave Rhys a wary look, “Well that was awkward. And awful, some kind of terrible combination of the both of them.” He said emphatically, “What was she even talking about? Jack’s too busy running Hyperion to commit any crimes, even if he wanted to.” He added with an incredulous expression spread across his face. Rhys didn’t bother to correct him on that front.

“Yeah. It was weird…” Rhys agreed, receding into himself more and more with every moment that passed by. He tried to shake off the awful way that he felt and barely succeeded, “Let’s just go home, alright?” He requested and Vaughn was quick to do as Rhys asked of him and leave all of this unpleasantness behind them for good.

* * *

Nearly three weeks after the strange incident at the mall and Rhys had spent nearly the whole time making a concerted effort to push it from his mind. He kept telling himself that it was probably nothing, even though in his heart of hearts he knew that there was something deeply troubling about what had happened. He hadn’t even bothered to tell Jack about it, because he had no idea how to explain it to the older man without making himself come off like an idiot.

What was he supposed to say? “Oh, Jack you wouldn’t believe what happened the last time that me and Vaughn went to the mall. It was just the darnedest thing! We went shopping and we ran into this guy, he looked really familiar, like I thought I knew him in my past life… and he pushed and lightly threatened me. And then, on the way to the parking lot we ran into someone else, this police officer lady who tried to question me. Good thing Vaughn was there to make a scene and defend me, right?”

Best case scenario, Jack would take him seriously and think that they needed to up security around the penthouse and keep an eye on him for the foreseeable future – Rhys didn’t think he wanted something like that to happen, he was getting accustomed to his freedom. Worst case scenario, Jack would think that he was being ridiculous and paranoid and he would be sure to tell Rhys as much – Rhys really did not want to hear that from Jack. No, it was best for him to just carry on like nothing had happened.

And hope that nothing like that happened in the future. Not ever. Because if it happened again, then that would cement it – it would make it real and he wanted nothing more than for it to all be a product of his overactive and not to mention paranoid imagination. For once in his life, Rhys would have been happy to find out that he was just crazy and that his trauma had him seeing shadows.

In a way, it would be a relief – with the aid of a therapist and some psychiatric drugs, he could heal paranoid delusions, but there wasn’t much he could do about the dangerous people from his past coming to take their revenge upon him. If it was real, then he only had two options – hide or fight back.

Rhys was snapped out of his destructive thoughts when Jack came strolling in the room, dressed grandly, with an even more grand smile spread across his face. “Are you ready, princess?” He asked and then, taking a look at Rhys’ somewhat disheveled appearance. “Ah. Definitely not ready.” He assessed, “That’s okay, we’ve got time! ‘Sides, what are they gonna do if I happen to arrive fashionably late? Nothing is what.” He snorted, “Friggin’ idiots, I’m the guest of honor, they can’t do shit.”

Rhys smiled, a confused expression spread across his face. “Ready?” Rhys replied, after a moment or two of thought. “I don’t… for what?” He asked, his hands nervously squeezing at his own thigh as Jack looked him up and down in a very obvious manner.

“Are you kiddin’ me?” Jack asked, mostly in a rhetorical manner. Rhys decided to answer him anyways, despite the fact that it probably wasn’t a good idea to reveal to the older man how out of sorts he had been in the past few weeks – even more out of sorts than he usually felt.

He shook his head emphatically, “I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about, sorry.” He replied.

“The fundraising gala!” Jack finally said, throwing his hands up in faux exasperation. “You know it’s some charity event for food without… borders or whatever. It doesn’t matter what it is – basically they’re paying me to attend this fancy gala, do a speech or two and take some photos… you get the gist.” He narrowed his eyes at Rhys, scrutinizing him. “I’m pretty sure that I told you about this, at least, two weeks ago.” He said.

“Oh, right.” Rhys replied, “Sorry, I… forgot.” He said meekly, “I’ve been distracted lately I guess.” He mumbled, as an afterthought. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.” He repeated.

Jack leaned forward and curled his fingers in Rhys’ hair. “Aw, you don’t need to beat yourself up about it, pumpkin.” He cooed as he played with the younger mans’ hair. “It’s not that big of a deal, you know, we’ve got some time before we need to be there.” He soothed, “And you want to go with me, right? I’d love to show you off to all those stuffy executives and shitty, sniveling journalists that are just chomping at the bit to get even a little bit of dirt on me.” Then he leered down at Rhys, “And you know what, might as well give them everything that they want.”

Rhys bit his lip nervously as he thought about it, “You want to show me off?” He asked, his lips curled in a shy smile. “Show me off…Why would you want to do that?” He mumbled, under his breath.

Jack huffed at that, “Why wouldn’t I?” he countered, smiling down at the younger man. He moved down to cup the younger man’s chin. “Even right now, with your hair all messy and in your pajamas you look absolutely enchanting.” He swooned.

Rhys was already convinced, but that did him in. He shooed Jack away with his hands, “Fine, fine, I’ll get ready and we can get going pretty soon.” He said and then stood up to do just that. It didn’t take Rhys long for him to get primped and ready for the gala – dressed in an overly expensive suit that Jack had bought him, one with black and amber pinstripes and his hair fluffed up and slicked back.

Jack’s face lit up as he looked at the younger man, “Looking good, baby.” He praised and Rhys lit up, smiling shyly with his shoulders rounded in a shy manner. “Yeah, you look great. Come on,” He said, ushering the younger man close to him. “Let’s get goin’ cupcake.” He added with a smile. Rhys grabbed a hold of his hand and allowed himself to be led out of their home and into a black town car.

* * *

They arrived to the building where the gala took place in no time – it really wasn’t very far from their house, but considering that Jack lived in the dead center of the town, that probably shouldn’t have come across as a surprise – and Jack led him inside the extravagant looking building, with one arm snaked around his waist the whole way that they walked up.

As soon as Rhys and Jack entered the building, all eyes were on him. Rhys was suddenly all too aware of all of the people that were focused on him, specifically. They were looking at Rhys with a vested sort of interest, just for the fact that Rhys was with Jack Lawrence – billionaire, engineer and trend setter extraordinaire Handsome Jack – he was suddenly a spectacle to behold. It was a little overwhelming.

Suddenly, there were people clamoring towards them – paparazzi and journalists that spent all of their time cataloging and stalking Jack’s life and romantic pursuits. Instinctively, Rhys grabbed Jack’s hand and held it with a tight squeeze, their fingers intertwining as he did so. Then, he was totally overwhelmed as it seemed that all of the press started airing all of their questions at once – all of the words that they spoke, until it devolved into a mindless, wordless buzzing that had Rhys’ ears ringing painfully. Unconsciously, he put one of his hands up to his ear, just to blot out some of the noise that they were making. Jack noticed how uncomfortable Rhys was feeling and gave him a comforting look

Unlike Rhys, Jack was entirely comfortable with what was going down – all the attention, the yelling and clamoring for him – Jack seemed perfectly at home with this sort of thing. Rhys envied him for it. Jack leaned back, his swagger confident. He held his hands up in a gesture that he wanted their attention. And, like magic, the press stopped speaking in wait for him to “Alright, alright, settle down ya vultures.” He said and half of the paparazzi laughed like they were in on the joke and not just the subject of it. “I will take all of your questions, but one at a time or not at all.” He added, in a warning manner.

They all stood to attention and were quick to cooperate with one another. It was like Jack was their leader – maybe, in a sense, he was seeing as how charmed they were by him – with how quick they were to fall in line with his whims. The questions came, from then on in a neat and orderly fashion – it couldn’t have been more orderly if they had literally lined up behind one another and shared one microphone. It was astonishing to Rhys, how Jack could so easily command these people to do whatever he wanted of them.

The first reporter was visibly excited, enough that he barely maintained his professionalism. “Can you give us a timeline on when the new CL4P units will be released, or any information on new features?” He asked.

“That’s classified.” Jack replied, “At least until the summer.” He winked, like he and the press were close friends and Jack was letting them in a closely guarded secret. “We’ll be having a convention in the coming months, I’ll tell you all about everything that we got planned.” Even more question

“Who is that with you?” One of the reporters asked, looking Rhys right in the eye. The question snapped Rhys out of his daydreams. Rhys barely stopped himself from turning towards Jack and burying his face against the older mans chest – he wanted to do that, he wanted to desperately, but he feared that it would come across the wrong way. He just barely stood his ground enough to return her gaze.

Jack grinned, like he was excited that was finally able to talk about something that he liked. “This is my soulmate, Rhys.” He explained, as he slung an arm around the younger mans waist to pull him in even closer. “He’s shy, so make sure to be gentle with him.” Rhys flushed at that, while Jack chuckled – which led the journalists, all of whom seemed to hang onto Jack’s every word, to chuckle in turn.

Rhys made himself small and relaxed against the older man as a litany of questions rang out about Hyperion’s business prospects, about all of the toys, weapons and tech that they were producing, about what ventures into Sanctuary that Jack would invest into this year. Then the conversation turned towards the young man that was standing meekly at Jacks side once again.

“How did you and Jack meet?” The reporter that held the microphone asked, looking at Rhys directly. Even Jack was a little surprised that anyone had bothered to directly address the younger man. His eyes turned towards to Rhys, as did everyone else, with interest.

“Wait, you’re talking to me?” Rhys asked dumbly, pointing towards himself. He nearly took a look around, to see if there was anyone else – someone that was actually important and worthy of this sort of questioning – when the reporter nodded, he was visibly surprised.

“Yes.” The reporter said, “It’s a special situation when any of us meet our soul mates and as far as I know, please correct me if I’m wrong, you are not a Sanctuary native. There must be quite a story behind how you met.” She smiled then, genuinely, like she was sincerely interested in the romance of all of it.

Jack nudged Rhys and smiled, “Go on and tell ‘em the story, princess.” He murmured into the younger mans’ ear. “I’m sure you tell it better than I ever could.” He added sweetly.

Rhys blushed deeply, and did as he was told. “Oh, um, I don’t know if the story is really phenomenal or out of the ordinary but- He smiled nervously and collected himself before he told the story that he usually came up with – that he had been struggling on the street and he and Jack had met by chance and discovered that they were each others soul mates, “We just found each other I guess.” He said as he finished his story. His hand moved down towards his wrist, tracing the line with his fingers. “Jack likes to travel and I was… around. We gravitated towards each other, like magnets there was this instant attraction between us. It’s funny how things work out, sometimes.” He explained with a tiny shrug and an even tinier smile.

It felt ridiculous to Rhys, even as he said it, but no one else seemed to take issue with what he said. He melted against Jack as the conversations went on, Jack answered each question with a practiced ease and a casual humor that had Rhys feeling envious of his soulmates social skills. Eventually the crowd dissipated and Rhys and Jack were free to move forward with their night.

Jack and Rhys sat at a table that had been reserved in their honor. They were instantly served with incredibly expensive looking food and alcohol. The both of them were quick to dig into the meal and get themselves drunk on the champagne they were served. It didn’t take long for Rhys to become a little tipsy – over his months of almost total sobriety he had become such a light weight.

“You good, kitten?” He muttered in Rhys’ ear, leaning in close. Rhys nodded hesitantly and rest his head against the older mans’ shoulder. Jack’s hand slid down to squeeze the younger man’s thigh in a comforting sort of way. Rhys smiled into his chest and nuzzled even closer, “You know, you did great out there, those pencil pushers fucking loved you.” He soothed.

Rhys pulled up and cocked his head at the older man. “You think so?” He asked, his mouth forming into a pout. “I think I came across like some, I don’t know…” He flushed nervously, “Some small town bumpkin that didn’t spend much time outside?” He suggested, a lop-sided grin forming on his face. “I dunno, I feel out of place here and it was like they could sense that.” He confessed.

Jack shook his head, “Nah.” He denied out of hand, “They think that you’re adorable, and you can trust me on that. I know these people, the only thing they care about is what sells.” He assured, “And a sweet, pretty faced kid like you that came from nothing and now you’re living in the lap of one of the richest men in the country?” He grinned, “People eat that ‘rags to riches’ shit up like hot cakes, and you gave them a good little sound bite.” He added teasingly.

“Well, I’m glad that I’ve helped their profit margins.” Rhys replied in a cheeky sort of way. “I always like to help people in desperate positions like that.”

“You’re a working class hero, Rhysie. They should have a holiday in your honor.” Jack replied, eliciting a chuckle out of the younger man. Jack stood up and called for more food, more drinks, more everything. They had a delightful time with one another and Rhys was secretly very excited to be the center of attention. He was even more delighted – and a little bit shocked – when a photographer asked him and Jack if they would take a few photos for their magazine.

Jack loved playing to the press’ whims, so he was quick to acquiesce to the request – with one caveat. “Just one photo, we’re gonna be on our way out soon.” He had said. The paparazzi had nodded in agreement. Jack and Rhys stood up, while Jack slung his arm around the younger man and pressed a kiss to Rhys’ cheek. They were a lovely couple and they made a pretty picture in each other’s arms.

True to his word, after the photo op, Jack decided it was high time for them to leave. On their way out, Jack called out to the barmen to put everyone’s drinks on his tab – much to the party-goers delight. “Can we just walk back home?” Rhys asked, “I don’t think that it’s too far.” He pleaded, leaning into Jack with a pleasant, drunken expression spread across his face. Jack thought that it was very cute, as most of the things that Rhys did were.

“Eh, you sure about that?” Jack asked, just to be sure. “We could just get a taxi and-” He cut himself off as he watched Rhys drunkenly giggling with a smile, “You look like a fucking mess, baby. I’m not sure that you’ll be able to make it all the way home.” He chuckled.

“Nooooo, I wanna walk.” Rhys whined, holding onto one of the older man’s arms as he pleaded with him to get what he wanted. “It’s so nice outside right now and I want to enjoy it with you…” He pouted and nuzzled against him. “Please? Pleeeaaaaase.” He pleaded quietly, still pouting at his soul mate and hitting him with puppy dog eyes. For as long as they’d been together, Jack had never been one to deny Rhys of any little thing that he wanted. So, of course – he agreed to it.

The two of them strolled leisurely back to their home, delighting in each other’s company in the way that they were always wont to do. Rhys was so happy and relaxed that he never noticed a shady looking individual watching them – and taking more than a few candid photos of them – as they strolled home.


End file.
